Stand By Me: Come Go With Me
by TheGeorgieB
Summary: Having left High School, the boys have one Summer left together before they go their separate ways to College. Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern camp out in the woods overnight. It's here that Chris and Gordie finally confront each other about their feelings. Meanwhile, Ace Merrill and his gang are up to no good as usual, but how does their latest scheme involve Chris?
1. PROLOGUE

PROLOGUE: END TIMES

This is the prologue to a piece of Fan-Fiction I've been thinking about writing here on . This first chapter is a glimpse into the future, taking place around Act III of the actual story. Hopefully, it'll get you guys excited and pumped to see more. Anyway, thanks you guys for reading and, if you do enjoy, please leave a REVIEW and I'll upload the first few chapters. Also, if you haven't already, check out my story _The Walking Dead: Season Two_, a piece of Fan-Fiction based on the hit video game. Anyway, without further ado...

* * *

Chris' footsteps echoed down his empty, lifeless street as he scuttled down the dimly lit street, the streetlights like parted clouds that let a beam of light shine through on that cold night. The night was bitterly cold enough to turn Chris' minty breath to steam as he shivered helplessly in his jeans and shirt that were now covered in blood, but it was only then that Chris had first noticed how soaked in bright, red blood his clothes were. The 16 year-old boy looked at his hands sheepishly. He seemed taken aback when he saw how bloody and battered his knuckles were, and how wet with blood and sweat his palms were. He looked as though he could have just butchered a pig, but Chris knew far too well where the blood had come from. He took another glance over his shoulder to find his beloved street was still empty.

Chris vaulted effortlessly over the white picket fence that guarded the house's green and freshly-mown front lawn, A lot of effort had gone into keeping the green grass of that house healthy, colourful and alive – but that hadn't stopped Chris from marching across the lawn and squashing the grass under his feet, along with a few daisies that had shown their little faces. Now on the doorstep, Chris hammered away at the front door with his fist, creating enough noise to wake the entire street. Chris knew he had not to worry about waking anyone inside the house, which was empty except for the friend he knew he could always rely on, even at this time at night. So when Chris could make out his blurred figure through the door's glass, Chris knew that Gordie Lachance was here for him again…

…But that didn't necessarily mean he had to like it.

The door swung open with a creak almost louder than Chris' knocking. "Chris?" Gordie asked confusedly as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "What're you doing here?"

Chris had one foot inside Gordie's home. "I'm in trouble, Gordie," he told his friend, hoping he'd hold the solution like he always seemed to. "I need you," he pleaded. Chris had never said something so true, he realised. He stared deep into Gordie's eyes, even though his friend struggled to look back at him. Gordie looked between his feet. He should have sent his friend home to cool off, but he knew too well that he couldn't send him away without what he'd come here for. Gordie just wished so hard that things could go back to the way they had been no long ago, when life in Castle Rock was so much simpler.

"I need you too," Gordie told his friend, his hearth thumping in his chest like a little girl. "That's why you can't do this," he explained in an attempt to reach out to Chris.

"But Christ pulled back. "My gun, Gordie," Chris told him quickly. "I need my gun."

And then, as quickly as Chris had spoken the words, Gordie was gone. His door still ajar, Chris peaked his head through. He saw Gordie pulling the pistol from out of an old, dust vase from the top of the bookshelf that was twice as tall as Gordie, requiring him to climb up and grab the vase. Gordie wiped away a lonesome tear, and approached Chris with the gun in hand. Looking down at his feet the way he always did when he saw angry, afraid or both, Gordie handed the gun to Chris.

"I'll see ya… I guess," Gordie told his friend. Chris smiled. He'd always had a way with words. Gordie finally looked at Chris. They met each other's eyes, and Chris' heart raced.

"Not if I see you first," Chris jested. He leaned in, pulled Gordie to him, and kissed him on the lips one last time. Then, Chris waved his friend goodbye, and disappeared out the door.

**TO BE CONTINUED.**

* * *

Thank you so much for reading this piece of Fan-Fiction. I hope you enjoyed this first taste of "Come Go With Me", and if you want to see more please leave a REVIEW and let me know you want me to submit more chapters! Also, feel free to check out my _The Walking Dead Fan-Fiction_, more of which is coming soon! Until then, happy reading!


	2. Chapter 1: Hugs, Kisses

Chapter One: Hugs, Kisses and Headless Superheroes

Teddy Duchamp was walking, a rolled up sleeping bag slung over his shoulder and a lit cigarette in his hand. He blew out a puff of smoke and flicked the cigarette into the grass as he climbed over a picket fence, treading all over the lawn as he approached the front door. Having knocked on the door thrice, Teddy hummed a tune as he waited for an answer.

"I'm coming!" Teddy heard a clumsy voice from inside say. "Just gimme a minute!"

Teddy sighed. He should have been prepared to wait. He pulled out another cigarette, lit it, and passes the time with another smoke. That was when the door finally swung open.

Vern Tessio bolted out of his front door, slamming it behind him. "What are you doing?" Vern asked as he tried to fan the smoke away from his front door with his chubby hands.

"What does it look like?" Teddy asked sarcastically as he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth. "I'm waiting for you. Now come on, Gordie and Chris are waiting for us."

"You know you can't smoke here," Vern told Teddy as the two strolled down Vern's street.

"I know," Teddy said with a deranged smile as he passed the cigarette to Vern.

* * *

Chris Chambers stood waiting patiently on the loneliest corner of the quietest street where his best friend Gordie Lachance worked his Summer job at the Library. Every Saturday afternoon, Chris would wait for his friend to finish stacking shelves and collect his pay on that same corner. But today, Chris Chambers was feeling especially impatient. Why? Because he and the boys had planned a camping trip together that night, and they were all waiting on Gordie. Chris carried his and Gordie sleeping bags over his shoulders. Perhaps it was the weight of the luggage on his shoulder, or perhaps he was just too impatient, but Chris then marched over to the Library, planted his butt on one of the steps, set the begs aside, and continued waiting for Gordie there. He twiddled his thumbs for longer than he could tell until he finally heard footsteps behind him.

"You ready?" Gordie asked as he waddled down the steps, recognising Chris instantly.

"Sure am," Chris said enthusiastically as he turned to face Gordie. Then, he started to smile and giggle uncontrollably. "What the hell is that, Lachance?" Chris asked in between laughs.

Chris was referring to the style of Gordie's hair, which he had combed to flick across his face, instead of flopping over his head neatly and tidily the way he'd always had it, and the way Chris like it. Chris put his hand on Gordie's head and ruffled his head up something nasty.

"Hey!" Gordie squirmed as Chris mussed up the head of hair that he had spent almost an hour styling that same morning. "Knock it off, Chambers!" He grabbed his friend by the shoulders, and Chris finally stopped.

The boys stood opposite each other, their arms wrapped around each other. Chris realised they were close enough to kiss, but he didn't feel uncomfortable. Stood there, with Gordie so close, he felt happy. It felt right. So he pulled his friend close and hugged Gordie like he'd never hugged him before.

"Uh, Chris?" Gordie, although he hugged his friend back, was confused. "You okay?"

Chris pulled himself off of Gordie and showed him the smile that had lit up his face. "Never better, Lachance," he said before kissing Gordie on the cheek.

Chris strolled down the steps joyfully, realising it was time to meet Teddy and Vern. But Gordie still stood on the Library steps, his hands on his cheek, wanting nothing more than to grab Chris and let him kiss him again. But he couldn't understand why.

* * *

Walking along the railroad without a care in the world, the four boys truly felt young again. For that short while, the pressures of College, the stress of their jobs and every other pain and ache included in the bundle deal called growing up all seemed to fade away. On that partly cloudy day, Chris couldn't keep out a nostalgic feeling in his heart. At times, it made him smile, sing and dance, just like they'd used to. But the idea that this might be the last time they ever did something like this truly upset Chris, and at time he wanted to hang his head and cry, because he knew the best days of his life had passed. At least, that was what he thought. Gordie's hand on his shoulder was what brought him back to Earth.

At his side, Gordie was trying desperately to balance along the railroad line, walking it like a tightrope. He put his hand on Chris for support. "Hold me, would ya?" Gordie asked of him.

"Sure," Chris agreed. He put a hand on Gordie back, supporting him, and smiled at his friend. Gordie eventually looked back, catching Chris' gaze, and smiled back embarrassedly. The boys had always looked at each other this way, so why when they did it now did Chris get a feeling like a million butterflies were soaring through his stomach? Did Gordie feel it too?

Chris, his mind occupied, hadn't noticed he had started to slow down. Suddenly, Gordie lost his balance. Chris, nowhere near ready for what came next, felt Gordie crash into him, and the two tumbled down the embankment beside the train tracks together. They rolled down the grass together, screaming and laughing at the same time. Chris wasn't sure whether he found the fact that they could both easily roll into the nearby river hilarious or terrifying.

They stopped rolling inches from the river. Opening his eyes, Chris found Gordie on top of him. He felt his strawberry breath on his face, and his hands on his chest. He wondered if Gordie could feel his heart vibrating like it was. Chris wanted to laugh just as much as he wanted to tell Gordie how stupid he was for that. But instead, the two laid there on top of each other, waiting for something to happen. Finally, Chris damned every doubt he had in his mind to hell, and he leaned in to kiss Gordie.

"What the hell are you idiots doing?" Chris heard Teddy shout from the top of the hill they had rolled down. He had been so close to pressing his lips to Gordie's. Perhaps Teddy's interruption had been for the best.

* * *

That night, Chris found himself twitching and fidgeting as he sat between his friends around Teddy's campfire. Though the blazing flames kept him warm, Chris couldn't take his mind off the recent feelings he'd been having. The thoughts he'd had were bothering him so much that he now couldn't even bare to look Gordie in the eye, in case he had them again.

"You know," Vern began, and the three boys perked up. "I bet if he tried, Batman could totally beat up Superman," he declared, challenging the other boys to disagree.

"No way!" Teddy disagreed with certainty, The two had obviously had this discussion before. "How many times do I have to say this? Superman's isn't even a human! Batman's just a guy!" Teddy shook his hands. "He wouldn't stand a chance! Superman would rip his head off and the fight would be over," he concluded, putting a damper on Vern's theory.

"Yeah, you're right." Vern looked glum as he sat across the campfire, pricking a marshmallow with a wooden stick. "Still, who wouldn't pay for tickets to see that!" Vern said excitedly.

"Man, I'm gonna miss these conversations when we-"

"Shut up, Vern!" Chris shouted, interrupting Vern and surprising them all. "I don't even want to think about…" Chris struggled. "I mean, this might be the last time we…" He took one glance at his friend Gordie, and burst into tears. "I'm sorry," he apologised as he disappeared into his tent, leaving the group in stunned silence.

**Thanks for checking out this Fan-Fiction. If you enjoyed it, please leave a REVIEW! Show support in any way you can (REVIEW/FAVOURITE/FOLLOW) and Chapter Two goes up ASAP!**

**-George**


	3. Chapter 2: Girl Talk and Pulp Fiction

Chapter Two: Girl Talk and Pulp Fiction

As Chris shivered in his tent, the bitter coldness of the night biting through the tent's cloth to nip at his precious, soft skin, he heard someone unzip the tent from the outside. Noticing Gordie's shadow, he recognised his friend from the stupid flick in his hair that was apparent even in the puny shadow he cast, Chris wiped the hot tears that had fallen down his cheeks away, grabbed the nearest magazine, and hid his humiliated face behind it.

Gordie slipped carefully inside the tent, zipping it back up to keep the cold out and the words he was about to speak in. He sat opposite Chris, who had buried his face in a copy of _The Phantom Detective_, feigning interest in the same pulp fiction that Gordie was so crazy about.

"Chris," Gordie said in an attempt to simply get his friend to look at him, but he was unsuccessful. "Please, Chris," he urged his friend. "Please will you just look at me?"

"Why?" Chris demanded to know as he slammed the magazine down in front of him in a sudden fit of rage that scared even Gordie, who now saw that his friend was crying.

"Because," Gordie explained humbly, "I need to know that you're okay." He pulled himself closer to Chris, and leaned closer to his friend. "_Are you_ okay?" Gordie asked sincerely.

"No, Gordie," Chris said truly. "I'm pretty far from okay", he explained to Gordie.

Chris began to choke up. He put his head in his hands and cried softly. Gordie moved to his side where he put an arm softly on Chris' shoulder. They sat together, shoulder-to-shoulder, underneath the lamp that lit the tent, casting their shadows for Teddy and Vern to see.

* * *

"Whataya think's the matter with Chris?" Vern asked Teddy as the two roasted marshmallows over a roaring fire – a fire that Teddy Duchamp was mighty proud of, you could tell so by the smug look on his face that Vern had been wanting to punch for the last hour. "I'm pretty sure I heard him crying in there," Vern said. "Chris doesn't cry."

Noticing what sounded like genuine concern from the mouth of his friend Vern, Teddy swallowed the marshmallow in his mouth, licked its sweet, sugary taste of his lips and thought about what could have possibly been bothering Chris so much that he'd retired to his tent so early. Not to mention, according to Vern, the kid was now in tears.

"I don't know," Teddy admitted. This was one problem to which Teddy didn't have the solution. "Girl trouble, maybe?" Teddy guessed, shrugging his shoulders hopelessly.

"This is Chris we're talking about," Vern reminded Teddy. "Chris doesn't have girl trouble. He doesn't even have girls." Vern went on. Unaware he was talking gibberish, and that Teddy had stopped listening a while ago.

"Yeah," Teddy agreed as he pulled a cigarette out of his trouser pocket, "what's up with that? A good lookin' guy like Chris? All that cuteness is going to waste," Teddy said as he took a lighter. Vern's heart stopped, and his mouth hung open. From the lighter sparked a soft, yellow flame that lit Teddy's face. That was when Vern saw the Teddy's smile.

Teddy broke into an uncontrolled fit of giggles when he saw the hopelessly confused look on Vern's face. "I'm kidding!" Teddy told Vern as he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and blew smoke out his nose. "Jesus, can you imagine?" Teddy laughed again, and this time Vern chuckled with him. "He's probably just waiting to find the right girl, whatever that means!"

"Yeah," Vern agreed. "You're probably right." He took one of Teddy's cigarettes, and his friend lit him up. The two boys sat by the fire together, their thoughts on days gone by and days to come. But as he smoked that cigarette, Vern had an interesting idea. "I just realised," he said between smokes, "I've never seen Gordie with a girl either."

* * *

"You know, whatever's bothering you, I'm here for you, Chris." Gordie sat with Chris on his shoulders, his hot tears wetting Gordie's favourite shirt. He was reminded of a time only a couple of years ago, when the boys had found themselves in a similar situation, only it had been Gordie with his head on Chris' shoulder. Now that things were the other way round, Gordie felt happy to be there for the same friend that had always been there for him. What didn't make him feel happy, however, was seeing his friend in tears, especially when he had no idea what had upset Chris so much in the first place. "You can tell me."

"No," Chris said, wiping tears from his face, "that's the thing. I can't tell anyone. _Especially_ not you," Chris explained, thought his words were vague, and Gordie couldn't help but feel like Chris was hiding so much behind them. There was so much he wanted to tell Gordie, but couldn't, and Gordie had to know why.

"Why? Why not me?" Gordie urged Chris to tell him. "What is it, Chris?"

Finally, Chris took his head off Gordie's shoulder and looked his friend in the eye. His heart beat so violently now, Chris was worried it might explode in his chest. "I just…"

"What?" Gordie asked, holding Chris close. He needed answers from Chris.

Chris wiped his tears away a third and final time that night, and Gordie saw him smile. "I guess I got a little scared when Vern started talking about leaving school," Chris explained. He watched Gordie's eyes widen as he began to understand why Chris was so upset. "I don't even want to think about leaving you," Chris told Gordie. He hadn't intended to sound so soppy, but his words made Gordie smile, perhaps he'd accidentally said something romantic.

"You mean all of us? Me, Vern and Teddy?" Gordie asked uncertainly.

"No," Chris said, a faint smile across his face. "Just you."

"What're you saying, Chris?" Gordie asked his friend, still confused.

"I'm saying that maybe… I… kinda…. sorta… _like_ you," Chris finally admitted. Already, he felt as though a giant weight had been lifted. Though he soon realised he may need that extra weight to deal with the painful rejection from Gordie that was sure to follow.

Chris saw his friend smile, his face lighting up like a Christmas tree. Of all the expressions he expected Gordie to show, Chris never expected to see him like this after telling him the truth.

"Well," Gordie began. Chris' teeth clenched and his heart tightened. He wasn't sure he was ready for what came next. Certain he was about to receive a devastating rejection, Chris bit his lip. "Maybe I kinda, sorta like you too," Gordie said with a smile.

Chris' face lit up the way Gordie's had. His heart raced excitedly, and Chris turned beat red. He wanted to kick himself for taking as long as he had to tell Gordie everything, but not as much as he wanted to grab his cheeks and kiss Gordie on the lips.

Now, the two boys stared into each other's eyes, unsure what to do next. Instead, they both simply giggled excitedly at one another.

All of a sudden, Chris wrapped his arms around Gordie, and did something he'd been waiting the better part of his life to do. Chris kissed Gordie softly and sweetly on the lips. Gordie put his hands on Chris' cheeks, and kissed back. Chris pulled back and kissed Gordie again, moving from his cheeks back to his lips and even once on his cute little nose until Chris heard the familiar sound of the tent being unzipped from the outside.

"What the hell are you idiots doing?" Teddy asked, looking over Vern's shoulder. At first, Teddy Duchamp looked ready to burst into a fit of laughter. But Gordie was mistaken, because the next thing Teddy did was barf all over the campfire, extinguishing it for good, and causing their camp to be engulfed in total darkness.

Chris panicked and looked at Gordie, whom he saw was now hiding his face behind that same copy of _The Phantom Detective_ so cowardly.

**Thanks for checking out Chapter Two! I hope you're enjoying this Fan-Fiction so far! Next time, Chris and Gordie have some explaining to do, so don't miss Chapter Three of Come Go With Me. Don't forget to FOLLOW/FAVOURITE this story to keep up to date with new chapters! Also, leave a REVIEW letting me know your thoughts, and I'll upload the next chapter ASAP!**

**-George**


	4. Chapter 3: Molly Spencer

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Chapter Three: Molly Spencer and that Day on the Railroad

It had been almost a whole hour since the kiss. When Teddy finally stopped producing steaming hot bile, and Vern had gotten their fire going again, Chris and Gordie decided it was about time to give their friends the answers they were owed. They took their seats around the campfire. Teddy made a display of distancing himself from Chris and Gordie, who sat together holding each other's hands, whilst Vern tucked into his second pack of marshmallows. After clearing his throat, Chris decided it was time to speak, even though he had no idea what to say. He hardly understood any of this himself, after all.

"Teddy," Chris called to his friend, who struggled to make eye contact with him. "How long have we been friends?" Chris asked, not taking his eyes off Teddy.

Though he tried to ignore the question, Teddy already knew the answer. He didn't even need to count. "Since Kindergarten. Twelve years now," he said, studying the roaring fire.

"Kindergarten. Right." Chris squeezed Gordie's hand. "Twelve years ago, and I remember every argument we've had since then," Chris announced, surprising Gordie.

"Bullshit," Teddy muttered, still dodging Chris' gaze as he poked the fire with a wooden stick.

"Bull-true!" Chris assured Teddy. "I remember in First Grade when you poured milk on my head because you saw me holding hands with Molly Spencer because you liked her!"

Teddy tried to butt in, but Chris wouldn't let him. "That's not even remotely-"

"I remember in Third Grade, when I broke your glasses because you took the last slice of pizza from the cafeteria when you knew pizza was my favourite!"

"How can you even think that this is-"

"I remember just a couple of years ago. On the railroad. Not far from where we're sitting now," Chris explained, pointing beyond the trees surrounding them. "Do you remember?"

"Don't," Teddy urged his friend. He turned, finally looking Chris in the eye. "Don't."

"I saved your life on that railroad, Ted," Chris said. The memory made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "And in return, you tried to claw my eyes out. I know you remember."

"Drop it, Chris," Teddy warned his friend as he clenched his fist tighter, biting his lip.

"We've gotten into fights about some stupid stuff in the past. Real dumb shit – I'll be the first to admit," Chris confessed. "And I can look back on that stuff now and laugh, but _this_?"

Chris turned to look Gordie in the eye. He smiled reassuringly, and squeezed his hand again.

Chris faced Teddy. "After everything we've been through, I can't believe you'd let _this_, of all things, come between us," he said. Teddy could tell that Chris was disappointed with him as a friend, as a brother, and as someone who'd stood by him for the majority of his life.

"I'm sorry, Chris." That was the first apology Chris could remember hearing Teddy ever making. "I guess I just don't understand, is all." He sighed. How could he have acted so stupid? These were his best friend for crying out loud! "I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," Chris said as he reached across the campfire and offered Teddy his hand. "Now," he said, "skin it." He wasn't moving until Teddy completed what had now become a ritual in the group.

Teddy rolled his eyes and reached across to offer Chris his hand. The boys were about to rub the skins of their palms together when they felt their hands burning, only to realise they had put their hands inches from where the fire was still burning violently.

"AHHH!" Chris screamed, and Teddy screamed with him, as his hand began to singe. Chris cuddled up to Gordie next to him, but it wasn't long before all four boys were laughing together again, as though nothing had ever changed. After all, what _had _changed?

* * *

The boys sat around the campfire long into the night. Through the night, their fire threatened to die on them, but thanks to Teddy and Vern collecting the right kind of wood perfect for kindling, they were able to set the fire blazing again. Teddy had been passing round cans of beer he'd stolen from his parents, and it hadn't taken much of it to make the boys as drunk as drunk could be. Within the first hour of drinking, Vern had shoved a whole packet of marshmallows into his mouth, Teddy had crushed a can against his head, and Gordie had taken his trousers straight off and burnt them in the fire. Chris appeared to be the only of the boys with a clear head. Perhaps that had been because he'd drunk before.

"So, are you guys, like, seeing each other now?" Vern asked Gordie and Chris, still confused as to what exactly the situation was. Little did he know that the two were just as clueless.

"Yeah," Chris decided, putting a hand over Gordie's shoulder. "Yeah, we're seeing each other," he said before leaning towards Gordie and pecking him lightly on the cheek.

Teddy couldn't help but cringe. "…Naked?" He asked. He was starting to feel woozy again.

Neither Chris nor Gordie were prepared for such a question. "No," Gordie assured him, shaking his head and laughing uncomfortably.

"Nah," Chris repeated. They were still boys, after all. Chris squeezed Gordie's hand playfully.

Teddy noticed Gordie and Chris giggling together like a pair of girls. He rolled his eyes. "Okay," he said as he stood up, stretched his arms out and yawned. "I'm gonna hit the hay."

"Yeah," Vern said. Teddy's contagious yawning had spread to him. "I think I'll join ya."

"Oh no!" Teddy jumped in front of Vern, blocking his path to their tent. "No you won't!"

"Why not?" Vern asked, confused. "It's _my_ tent!" Teddy towered over him.

"Because, what if whatever Gordie and Chris caught to make them lay kisses all over each other is contagious!?" Teddy's theory was a ridiculous one, but that didn't stop Vern from fearing the same thing. "I don't wanna wake up with you on top of me!"

"You're right," Vern said. "I better sleep outside, just in case," he decided.

As Vern disappeared into his tent to grab his sleeping bag and bring it outside, Teddy started to snigger. "And that's how you get a tent to yourself," he said.

"Goodnight, Teddy," Gordie told his friend before following Chris back to their tent, where he'd spend a whole hour simply laying on his back, enjoying having Chris wrapped around him, before finally drifting off and joining his friend in the eternal playground of slumber.

* * *

It was only after the boys had packed their bags and were making their way back to Castle Rock when the clouds finally cleared up, revealing the sunny skies they'd been covering.

"Typical," Chris muttered as he and Gordie retraced their steps out of the woods.

"Chris," Gordie murmured. Just by the sound of his voice, Chris could tell something was bothering him. "Are you sure this is gonna work?" Gordie asked nervously.

Chris' heart sunk. What was Gordie saying? "What do you mean _this_? You mean _us_?"

"Yeah," Gordie admitted, staring at the dirt between his feet. "I mean, it's taken this long, and Teddy and Vern still don't understand. How do you think everyone else would react? Our parents? You're brother? How do you think Danny would have reacted?"

"All I know is that Danny wanted you to be happy," Chris told Gordie, not taking his eyes off him for a second. "Are you happy, Gordo?" He already knew the answer.

Gordie looked up at Chris and smiled a cheesy grin. "Of course I am," he said.

"Well there you go," Chris said. He wrapped his arms around Gordie, and kissed him again.

"Uh, guys?" Vern called from up ahead. When he saw them kissing, Vern covered his eyes.

"It's okay, Vern." Chris pulled himself off Gordie and turned to Vern. "You can look."

"Chris! It's Ace! Ace Merrill! He and his entire gang are here, and they're looking for _you_!"

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please share your thoughts in a REVIEW below, and FOLLOW/FAVOURITE to keep up to date. Chapter Four to be published as soon as some review go up for this update!**

**-George**


	5. Chapter 4: A Little Bag of Nothin

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Chapter Four: A Cigarette, a Lighter and a Little Bag of Nothin'

"Shit," Chris cursed under his breath upon hearing the news from Vern. Ace Merrill and his boys were here, and they were looking for _him_ especially. "I'm coming," he told Vern.

"Why would Ace be looking for you?" Gordie wondered to Chris, confused.

Chris seemed hurt by the question, for some reason. "Why _wouldn't_ he?" He turned the question back on Gordie, defensively. "What? Is it so hard to believe that I actually have friends in this town, besides you guys?" Chris marched ahead of Gordie angrily.

"No, I just…" But Chris had stormed ahead before Gordie could even get his words out. He was about to apologies, but it appeared that Chris didn't want to hear any of it. What Gordie was going to say was that it wasn't the fact that Chris had other friends that surprised him – he had always been a stand-up guy. What Gordie struggled to understand was those friends being made up of Ace Merrill and his gang – the misfits of Castle Rock. Remember the kind of boys your Mother told you to stay away from growing up? Ace, Eyeball and the rest of Merrill's vicious gang of troublemaking rebels were those boys… all grown up.

* * *

Ace Merrill stood proudly, his hands on his hips and a cigarette in his mouth. When he saw Chris approaching, he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, flicked it into the dirt between his feet, and crushed it with the heel of his boot. Beside him, Eyeball Chambers messed with a Zippo lighter with the word NAVY written boldly in black on the metal. He lit the lighter, allowing a small flame to flicker meekly, before shutting the lighter again. He repeated the process enough times to drive Ace insane. But Eyeball finally stopped when he saw Chris.

"Hey, brother." Eyeball greeted Chris from the tree he leaned against. He got on his feet and approached his brother slowly. With each step Eyeball took, Gordie's heart beat quicker. He continued to watch with Teddy and Vern, but they were too far away to hear if Ace or his boys had said anything to Chris, or if Chris had said anything to them.

Suddenly, Eyeball grabbed his little brother, wringing his arms around his neck. The two span around in a quick, rush of energy. As his brother rubbed his knuckles against his head, Chris tried his hardest to hit Eyeball's with his fists as he flailed his arms hopelessly and tried to break free of the headlock he had captured him in. Gordie now saw that the two were play fighting, like brothers did. But Chris and his brother never played.

"You're getting tough, little guy." Chris had broken free of his brother's grasp. "Maybe one day you'll be getting me in headlocks," he told his brother as he laughed and mussed up his hair. He fell back in line with Ace, Billy, Charlie and the rest of the boys.

From where he crouched and watched behind a couple of bushes, with a bout twenty feet between them and Merrill's gang, Gordie could see that Chris wasn't happy to see his brother, or any of them there for that matter. As far as Gordie could tell, Chris wanted to be out of there as soon as possible. But when had he been a part of the gang in the first place?

"So," Ace began, his voice cold and chilling, "you think you're ready for another job, kid?"

"Yes, sir." Though his voice sent shivers down his spine and made his skin crawl, Chris knew he couldn't look anywhere then straight at Ace Merrill when he spoke to him. "I'm ready."

"Good," Ace Merrill said as she patted Chris on the shoulder and smiled. Chris gave a faint smile back and held out his hand as Ace pulled a small, clear bag from his jean pocket and placed it in Chris' flat, open palm. "Remember," Ace urged Chris, still holding his hand. Gordie watched Ace lean in and whisper something into his ear. He let Chris' hand go, turned sharply on the heels of his boot, and disappeared out of the woods with his gang.

"Try not to screw it up," Eyeball said. "For me." He smiled, and waved his brother goodbye.

"So?" Teddy finally asked, breaking the silence that had been torturing the boys since they'd left the woods after an encounter with Ace Merrill's gang only minutes ago. Teddy didn't have to say much more. As they walked along the railroad, towards Castle Rock, only one thing was on their mind. "What the hell was all that about?" And now, on Teddy's tongue.

"All of what?" Chris asked, feigning ignorance, and acting as though what had happened back in the woods was the most normal thing in the world.

"Since when were you friends with Ace Merrill?" Gordie asked, knowing that, of all people, Chris wouldn't lie to him. And if he did, Gordie would be able to see straight through it.

"Since when were you friends with your brother, for that matter?" Vern added a question.

"Me and Ace ain't friends," Chris assured Gordie. "And me and Eyeball have always been pals!" Chris was avoiding Gordie's gaze, his eyes instead fixed on the planks of wood between the train tracks. There was something Chris was telling them. All of them.

"You sure looked like friends back there," Gordie muttered under his breath, but loud enough for Chris to hear. "What did he whisper in your ear?" He asked innocently.

"Look, Gordie, will you please just drop it!" Chris demanded, agitated by all of their questions. Chris' sudden fit of rage had stopped a frightened Gordie in his tracks. "I just do a couple of jobs for him every now and again," Chris explained as he marched onward.

"What kind of jobs?" Teddy asked, driving Chris to an all-new level of annoyed.

Chris rolled his eyes and sighed. "Let's just go home," he decided. He, Teddy and Vern continued their march home, their sleeping bags slung over their shoulders.

But Gordie hadn't moved. He still stood motionless on the railroad where Chris had left him. What was it that was bothering him that drove him to shouting at Gordie the way he did? Chris never raised his voice or lost his temper, especially not at his friends. Something was bothering him, and Gordie wouldn't rest until he found out what that was.

* * *

The stiff wooden floor of the boys' tree house did not make for such a comfortable seat, as great as it looked outside. Gordie could already feel his butt falling asleep. He sat with his legs crossed, and Chris laid on his back opposite him. Having spent the majority of the day walking home with a sleeping bag slung across his shoulder, Chris was beat. He was almost falling asleep as he rested his head on his rolled up sleeping bag, which made for a good pillow. But Gordie wasn't getting any sleep until he found out what was wrong with his friend. Now that Teddy and Vern were gone, it was just the two of them.

"So," Gordie began. "Just you and me now," he said. He was pointing out the obvious, but Chris was so tired, he might have needed it. Chris sat up, yawned and looked around the room, as though he was lost. He then realised Gordie was right.

"Yep," Chris said, as he began to smile like an excited little schoolgirl. "Just you and me." He crawled over to Gordie seductively. When he reached his side, Chris planted a wet and sloppy kiss on Gordie cheek, from which Gordie immediately pulled away.

"Knock it off, Chris!" Gordie told him off as he backed away from Chris.

"What?" Chris asked, confused. What could he possibly have done wrong? He saw Gordie isolate himself to the corner of the tree house, where he away from Chris. "I thought you wanted this, Gordie?" Chris was confused. Had he really read him so wrong?

"I do," Gordie reassured him. "I just think we should talk first."

"Talk? Sure, we can talk." Chris would do anything to make this work. "What do you wanna talk about?" Chris gulped. He already knew the answer, and he knew it wouldn't end well.

"Chris," Gordie was struggling already. He took a breath. "Are you selling drugs for Ace?" And that was when Chris went quite. "Dammit, Chris," was all Gordie could manage to say.

**To be continued in Chapter Five, an extra-sized chapter that is ready to be uploaded, as soon as you guys leave some reviews!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-George**


	6. Chapter 5: An Ounce of Trouble

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Chapter Five: An Ounce of Trouble and Songs of Myself

"Shit," Gordie cursed. He had just learned that Chris had been selling drugs for Ace Merrill and his gang, explaining the respect they'd shown him when they'd bumped into each other in the woods. Now, everything made sense. But that didn't mean Gordie had to like it.

"Listen, Gordie, I swear I've never sold anything more for them than an ounce of weed," Chris promised. He held a hand to his heart, and his eyes suggested he was telling the truth.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Gordie asked. This was all wrong. "Dammit, Chris, this is so messed up! How could you do this? I mean, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking about the future! How the hell else am I supposed to afford College?" He asked Gordie, open to any suggestions. "You have your job at the Library, and I have this."

"But my job isn't illegal. _This is!_" Gordie couldn't believe he even had to say what he was saying. Chris wasn't the brightest kid on the block, but he wasn't stupid. "This is all wrong, Chris. And it's gotta stop." He turned to face his boyfriend. Chris looked utterly ashamed, and Gordie felt guilty. "You know, I'm only telling you all of this because I care about you, and I don't want you getting hurt. Ever," he told Chris, squeezing his hand tightly.

"You care about me?" Chris repeated Gordie's words to him. He seemed surprised.

"Of course I do," Gordie said. Chris should have taken that as read. "Which is why, we're going to find you a _real_ job. Something where I won't have to worry about you all the time."

"No," Chris muttered, dismissing the idea. "No one will have me," he claimed pitifully. "Everyone still looks at me as that Chambers kid who steals milk money and starts fights."

"That's not true," Gordie lied, but not well enough to convince even himself. "And even if it was, we can find something. Hell, I know I could get you a job at the Library if I tried hard enough. I mean, it's be boring but… it'd be good to have you there," Gordie said, smiling at Chris, whose frown he'd managed to turn around. "Whatever happens, we'll figure this out. _Together_. Please, Chris, just stay away from Ace and his gang," Gordie begged.

"Alright, Gordie," Chris agreed. He turned from his boyfriend and yawned.

"Well, I guess we should get home," Gordie declared, though he wished he could stay.

"Why?" Chris asked, as simply as that. "Why not just stay here? We've got sleeping bags and everything. We could easily just stay here tonight," he said a she unrolled his sleeping bag.

Gordie's initial reaction had been to call Chris crazy, but he thought about his words instead. Realising there was nothing stopping them from spending the night there together, Gordie saw how smart Chris really was, and smiled at his excitedly. "Just you and me?" He asked.

"Just you and me," Chris said. He saw Gordie smiling like a maniac. "What?"

Gordie wrapped his arms around Chris tight enough so he couldn't break free if he wanted to, and planted a soft but sweet kiss on his lips. Gordie laid back, his arms still wrapped around him, as Chris caressed his cheeks and dipped and kissed his neck. Together, they rolled across the stiff, wooden floor until Gordie felt the soft comfort of Chris' sleeping bag underneath him. Finally, Chris pulled his lips off Gordie, and rested his head on his chest, where he could hear Gordie's heart thumping in his ribcage.

"Gordie?" Chris called out. He spent a few seconds thinking about the words that followed.

"Yeah?" Gordie stroked Chris' short, fine hair as he laid peacefully on his back.

"I…," Chris begun, but struggled with the words. "I care about you too," he finally said.

"I know," Gordie said with a wide, happy smile. As he laid there, with Chris falling asleep next to him, a warm Summer breeze flapping through his shirt, Gordie realised just how content with happiness he was. Everything was perfect, and there was nowhere Gordie Lachance would have rather been than in that tree house with Chris Chambers.

* * *

The following afternoon passed excruciatingly slowly for Gordie Lachance as he stood in the Castle Rock Library stacking old hardbacks. As he piled the tired and worn books that had begun to gather dust before he had plucked them from their shelves, Gordie kept an eye on the clock, the hands of which appeared not to move. Gordie was counting down the minutes until his interminable shift came to an end. His punishing boredom had even made him seek out extra jobs. Stacking shelves, hovering the floors, and even running out to fetch coffee for his co-workers – all were jobs he intentionally sought out, hoping to make the end of his shift come faster. It was approaching four o'clock now, meaning Chris would be outside right now, waiting for Gordie on the steps of the Library. Gordie's heart warmed at the simple thought of finding Chris outside, and kissing him like he never had done before. He couldn't wait for the clock to reach four. That was the day Gordie first met Lindsay.

When the girl first approached him, Gordie had been flicking through _Outside the Law_, a book by a man named George Peterson. The book was Peterson's account of his arrest, trial and imprisonment after the former published author had openly declared his homosexuality, and been vindicated because of it. Gordie had spent every one of his lunch breaks for the past five days flicking through the engrossing read, and continued reading every chance he got. He'd even been caught flicking through the pages by Chris, who he'd lied to by telling him the book was just another crime fiction.

"Whatcha readin'?" Gordie hadn't seen the girl approach him until she was looking over his shoulder, causing him to jump out of his skin when he first hear her voice. Gordie felt stupid. She was just a girl, and she was even his own age. Not to mention, she was gorgeous, for a girl anyway. Dumbstruck by the girl and her beautiful, golden hair that fell to her shoulders, Gordie failed to realise that he'd been standing there with his mouth open for far too long.

"Oh, uh, nothing." Gordie slammed the book shut and hid it behind him cowardly, the same way he did when either of his parents walked in on him reading it. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah," she nodded, smiling at Gordie. "I'm looking for something by Walt Whitman. I need to study one his poems for English class," she explained as he played with her hair.

"Sure thing," Gordie told her enthusiastically. "This way," he said as he paced around a corner, and gestured the girl to follow. "I myself would suggest _Leaves of Grass_, it collects some of his finest work," he explained as he plucked the hardback from one of the top shelves over in the Library's poetry corner. Luckily, Gordie had been tall enough to reach it. He blew the dust from the cover, and handed the heavy collection of poems to the girl. "Gliding O'er All, Songs of Myself, they're all in there," he told her enthusiastically.

The girl laughed and shook her head exhaustedly "You do realise I didn't understand a word of that, right?" She laughed again as she bagged the book, and Gordie felt himself blush.

Gordie joined her and laughed nervously. He had always been shy around girls. "Well," he said as he buried his hands in his pockets, "maybe when you _do_ become an avid fan of Walt Whitman's, you'll let me recommend some more of his work?" Gordie chanced, though he wanted to kick himself very soon after. Was this his idea of charming?

The girl nodded and smiled. "I'd like that," she said as she began to play with her hair again.

"Really?" Gordie asked with disbelief. Had he accidentally just gotten himself a date?

"Yeah, I'd like to see you again," she said assumingly. "How long do you work for?"

"All day," he said regrettably. "But I have weekends off!" He told her, excitedly.

"Cool. We'll have to arrange something for then," she said before turning to leave.

"Wait!" Gordie raced after her. "I don't even know your name," he realised.

"I'm Lindsay," she told him. And he shook her soft, warm hand. A pause followed.

"Oh. And I'm Gordie," he said. "It's nice to meet you, Lindsay."

* * *

Gordie was confused. With his entire friendship group being made up of unruly, loud, raucous boys, Gordie had always hoped of befriending a girl who shared his interest in literature, history and other hobbies that he could never hope to enjoy with Chris. And it appeared he'd found that friend today. The only problem was, Lindsay seemed to be looking for more than a friend, and Gordie knew he couldn't he wasn't that person. As he descend the steps of the Library after a long and draining shift, Gordie searched the street for Chris, who he'd usually find waiting for him on these very steps. He needed to talk the delicate situation he'd gotten himself into with Chris, but he soon realised is friend wasn't here.

A lonely, sage coloured Cadillac sat across the street. At its window, a young man peered through. Gordie saw the boy reveal a small transparent bag, containing some kind of brown substance, from the pocket of his jeans, presenting it encouragingly to his newest customer. Gordie saw it now. The boy was Chris, and he was about to sell his next ounce of weed.

"Chris!" Gordie yelled as he approached Chris across the street. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked. He was in Chris' face now, but Chris didn't seem at all fazed.

"What does it look like?" He said to Gordie sarcastically as he stuffed the bag of weed back into his pocket. Gordie took a look at the guy inside the Cadillac. He looked around the age of Chris' brother. A pair of aviator sunglasses hid his eyes, making it hard for Gordie to put a name to his face. Otherwise, Gordie knew he'd have been able to recognise him. Everyone knew everyone in Castle Rock, after all.

"I thought you said you were through with this," Gordie reminded Chris angrily. He took a step back. His heart thumped in his chest. "You lied to me," he told Chris. He wanted to sock him across the face, he was so angry. But instead, Gordie stood there, waiting for an answer. But this was an answer Chris did not have. "Well? Aren't you gonna say anything?"

Chris stared at Gordie pitifully. As much as he wanted to apologise to Gordie, to hold him tight and kiss his stupid lips, he knew he couldn't. He was moments away from finishing an important job. And he'd come too far to throw it away. "We'll talk about this later. Just get outta here, Gordie." He hadn't meant to come off so coldly, but Chris had said what he'd said for the good of them both. He just knew he'd have to make up for it later.

Gordie didn't know what to say. Where was this all coming from? He wanted to ask Chris if he really meant what he'd said. He wanted to shake some sense into him and kiss him until he dropped. But now, all Gordie could do was burst into tears. As his eyes first began to water, Gordie turned and ran down the street, wiping the tears from his eyes as he did so. Gordie ran all the way home without ever looking back.

* * *

"Nice job, kid." Ace Merrill congratulated Chris with a pat on the shoulder as he took the notes out of his hand, leaving him with $20 as payment for his services. The old, rusted safe opened with a loud, painful creak, and Ace tossed the bundle of notes inside.

"How much money is that, Ace?" The stack of bills inside had Chris' immediate curiosity.

"A lot," Ace answered, earning a chuckle from Eyeball, who stood by his side. "Who knows? Maybe one day you'll be bringing in cash like that," Ace suggested, but Chris was smart enough to know that he wouldn't be making that kind of cash by slinging weed on street corners. "But, remember, me and your brother are the only ones with keys to this safe, so don't be getting any ideas, or we'll know about it," Ace warned, though he said it mockingly, never expecting Chris to actually pull something as heinous as that.

"Sure," Chris said. And that was when Chris had an idea. He smiled, because Chris had realised, that even if Ace were to know about it, with all that money, Chris would be long gone by then. Gordie too.

**END OF CHAPTER FIVE.**

**You guys know the score, more reviews and the next chapter goes up ASAP! Sorry about this chapter's lateness!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-George**


	7. Chapter 6: The Kiss and the Make Up

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Chapter Six: Kiss, Make Up and Get the Hell Outta Dodge

The idea had been planted like a seed in Chris' mind. Knowing that he could not rest until he shared the epiphany he'd had with Gordie, Chris raced over to his house, despite the late hour, to tell him the news. The idea made his heart race. At last, the two could be free. No longer would they have to live a lie. No longer would they have to keep their relationship a secret. And no longer would they feel as though they had to be ashamed. Wherever they went, they would always have each other. And to Chris, that meant the world.

Chris pounded on Gordie's door restlessly, until he saw his bedroom light flicker on, signalling that his friend was awake. A few minutes later, the door swung open. Gordie stood in a pair of slippers and striped pyjamas, his eyes baggy and tired having been disrupted in the middle of a deep and needed sleep. "Chris?" Gordie asked as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Hey," Chris said as he stepped into Gordie's home, ignoring the fact that he hadn't been invited, and had rudely awoken his friend. "I've got big news," he told Gordie.

"I don't want to hear it," Gordie told Chris, now wide awake. Having remembered the last time the two spoke, Gordie's eyes had been well and truly opened. "Not until you apologise," he explained, his arms crossed.

Chris sighed. He knew he owed his friend an apology, but didn't know where to start. "I'm sorry, Gordie," he decided. "I was way out of line today. I should never have spoken to you like that, and I never should have lied in the first place. I'm sorry," he apologised again.

Staring into Chris' apologetic puppy eyes, Gordie felt relieved. A part of him had feared that Chris wasn't coming, and that he didn't really care. "I know," he told Chris before wrapping his arms around him and kissing him gently on the lips.

Chris' hands reached Gordie's waist, and he continued to kiss him softly, his lips sweet and warm. Eventually, he pulled himself off Gordie, and the two laughed at their own soppiness.

"What was it you wanted to tell me?" Chris asked Gordie with a devious smile.

Chris smiled back as he pulled something from the back pocket of his worn and torn jeans. From the pocket, Chris revealed a bag of weed. He held it proudly before Gordie.

Gordie looked disgusted. "What the hell are you doing here with that?" He asked in a fit of panic. "Do you have any idea what my parents would say? I thought you were done with all this, anyway?" He put his head in his hands nervously as Gordie continued to stress.

"That was before I found out how much Ace and his boys make from all this," Chris explained. "You didn't see it, Gordie. These guys have a safe full of cash just lying around," he said.

"And you're plan is to sell weed until you start making that kind of money?" Gordie asked patronisingly. "That's ridiculous, Chris!" He told him surely.

"Who said anything about selling this stuff?" Chris asked Gordie as he held the bag of weed in front of him. "I stole an ounce of this stuff right from under Ace and his gang's noses," he explained. "We could smoke this stuff for all I care," he joked, raising Gordie's eyebrows. "My point is, if it was this easy to steal from them, what's stopping me from taking _everything_?" He asked rhetorically, his mind clearly on the safe full of cash owned by Merrill and his boys.

"You really don't think they'd notice that?" Gordie asked Chris questionably.

"It doesn't matter," Chris assured him. "We'll _both_ be long gone by then."

Chris took Gordie hand, and their heartbeats escalated simultaneously. "We can't just up and run away," Gordie assured Chris, though he wasn't so sure he was right this time.

"What's stopping us?" Chris asked Gordie as he put a hand on his cheek tenderly.

Gordie was nervous. The idea excited him, but the stakes were far too high. He needed something to take the edge off. "How about that weed?"

* * *

Gordie had never gotten high before. He felt drunk, and he'd gotten drunk plenty of times before. He just hoped he wouldn't experience the same headache the following morning.

"You're so full of shit," Gordie spat at Chris, who sat opposite him in his room. "There's no way you knew I liked boys _before_," he said. Since he'd struggled to balance on two feet, Gordie has been laid on his side for the past hour. He was spaced out beyond help.

"I'm telling you, I _always_ knew," Chris assured his friend, whom he claimed to know everything about. According to his best friend, Gordie couldn't have kept a secret from him if he'd tried. Chris too felt a little light-headed, but it appeared his feet were a lot more firmly on the ground than Gordie, whose eyes had become enormous pools of hazel.

"I guess I never did show that much interest in girls," Gordie agreed thoughtfully.

"Yep," Chris said proudly, "and they never showed an interest in you either," he remarked.

"Piss up a rope, Chambers," Gordie replied angrily. "If I _was_ straight as an arrow, I'd be a lady killer and you know it!" He assured Chris, his breath reeking of marijuana.

"Whatever, Gordie," Chris said, chuckling as he did so. He didn't believe Gordie for a second.

"You don't believe me? As a matter of fact, just today I met a girl at the Library. She totally dug me. She even asked me out on a date," he bragged, though he wasn't sure why.

"You're serious?" Chris asked, unable to believe Gordie's story. "What was her name?"

"Her name was Lindsay," Gordie told Chris, "and she was pretty! For a girl, anyway."

"And you're going out on a date with… Lindsay?" Chris asked, still amused by all this.

"I don't know yet," Gordie admitted. He had suddenly realised the mess he'd gotten himself into. "I mean, I don't want to be rude, but I can't be her boyfriend!" He said dramatically.

"Who said you have to be her boyfriend?" Chris asked. "Just be her friend," he urged him.

"But what if she doesn't _just_ like me as a friend?" Gordie asked confusedly.

"Well," Chris began, "_then_ you're screwed." Chris laughed and opened a fresh can of beer.

"You're such an ass," Gordie told Chris with a warm smile.

"And that's why you love me," Chris assured him as he took a sip from the can.

Gordie paused. The marijuana, though it had clouded his mind, had also made him think about things he paid no heed normally. "Have you ever, you know, considered telling your parents about… us?" He asked Chris, knowing how lightly he should tread here.

Chris thought about Gordie's question. Although he didn't want to hurt his friend, he already knew the answer. "No," he admitted, fearing Gordie's reaction. "What about you?" He asked.

"I don't know," Gordie said. "It _would_ be a relief to finally tell the truth, but I know they'd never understand," he said unhappily. "Denny would," Gordie added.

That made Chris smile, but he couldn't help but still feel guilty. Chris would had never even considered telling his parent, or anyone else, about them. Did that make him a bad person. "Look, Gordie," he said. "You know that, just because I haven't told anyone about us, it doesn't mean I'm ashamed. Not at all," he explained sincerely. "I would shout it from my rooftop if I could. I just can't," he admitted, knowing how pathetic and cowardly he sounded.

"I understand," Gordie said, his head bowed regretfully.

"No, you don't," Chris assured him. He leaned closer to Gordie, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I've never cared about anyone more than I do about you Gordie," he told him, filling Gordie's chest with butterflies. "I would never do anything that could possibly mean losing you," he explained. "I guess I'm scared, is all."

"I'm scared too," Gordie admitted, his head still bowed in embarrassment.

That was when Chris looked Gordie in the eye and smiled cunningly. "But we don't have to be. And we _won't_," Chris assured him. "Not if we take that money and run," he explained as he caressed Gordie's cheeks with his soft hands. "We can go anywhere," he said. "Do anything. And nobody can stop us," Chris went on excitedly as he got way ahead of himself.

"We can't steal that money," Gordie assured Chris, who didn't seem to understand the seriousness of what he was suggesting. "It's not ours. And Ace would kill us both if he ever found us, you know that!" Chris did know that, but a part of him was still refusing to let this dream go. "Besides, we don't need it. We only need each other," Gordie said romantically.

Chris wasn't sure if it was the marijuana or the loving words that had come out of Gordie's mouth, but at that moment, something made him pull Gordie to him and kiss him roughly on the lips. He held Gordie tight in his arms, refusing to let him go. But Gordie wasn't going anywhere. Their arms wrapped around each other, Gordie and Chris kissed each other until their lips were sore. Chris pulled Gordie's shirt over his shoulders, and dipped to kiss his skinny chest tenderly. He took off his own shirt then, and the two boys felt each other's skin in their hands as they continued to kiss each other like they'd never been kissed before.

"OH FOR CHRISSAKES!" Chris heard a voice cry from across the bedroom. He pulled himself off Gordie to see Teddy stood in the doorway, his hands covering both eyes. "Not again!"

**Continues in Chapter Six! Thanks everyone who has left feedback so far. If you haven't already, please leave a REVIEW, and I'll upload the next chapter ASAP! As always, thanks for reading!**

**-George**


	8. Chapter 7: Light Me Up Before We Go-

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Chapter Seven: Light Me Up Before We Go-Go

"Light me up, would ya?" Teddy asked Chris, the joint in his mouth slurring his words.

Chris drew a lighter from his pocket, and lit the join in Teddy's mouth. He watched him take a long drag, inhaling the smoke, and blow through his nose. Teddy then coughed up mist of smoke in a sudden fit. Chris patted him on the back, embarrassed for him. Teddy, who had always claimed to be the coolest and hardest of all, had obviously never done this before.

"Easy," Chris said as Teddy recovered from his coughing fit. "Maybe we've had enough for one day," Chris decided as he stubbed out the joint in his Dad's ashtray, which he would have to remember to empty before his Dad figured out they had been smoking weed all day.

"Funny," Teddy said, his voice broken, "I don't usually cough like that," he claimed.

"Whatever, Teddy," Chris said as he tucked the empty bag of weed into his jean pocket. They had smoked the whole lot, and Chris didn't feel good about it. "Let's not do that again."

"But we're just getting started!" Teddy declared, fisting the air. "The night is young!"

"Not for us," Chris said as he put his arm over Gordie's shoulder, holding him close. "We've been at this all day," he explained. "And it's made me tired." Chris' words turned into a yawn.

"Yeah, maybe I should just leave you two lovebirds to it," Teddy suggested.

"No, Teddy's right, Chris!" Gordie decided as he stood up to join Teddy at his side. "You said it yourself! We can do anything! Go anywhere! Who says we have to be in bed by ten?"

"I guess I did say that," Chris muttered begrudgingly. Gordie was high on life, and clearly in the mood for trouble. But that was exactly the opposite of what Chris was in the mood for.

"Then let's go!" Gordie urged as he led Teddy and Chris outside his door, down the wooden steps of his home, and out the front door, making as much sound as possible.

"Wow," was all Teddy could say, the marijuana making each step more wobbly than the last. He held his forehead, but the world continued to spin around him. "I feel… I…"

"Teddy?" Chris asked, noticing his friend had stopped in his tracks, and now wore a terrified look on his face. "You okay, man?" But Teddy was silent.

All of a sudden, Teddy erupted like a volcano, spewing vomit from his mouth in one messy heap of bile. He continued to heave as Gordie and Chris stood by him. That was when Gordie laughed. Chris tuned to him. Gordie wore a cheeky grin as he continued to chuckle.

"What a pussy," Gordie said cheekily, as though he'd been waiting years to say it.

* * *

"You know," Gordie began, his head finally starting to clear up as the three of them wandered aimlessly through the streets of Castle Rock, "I was thinking about telling my parents. About _us_," he said, making Chris gulp, and Teddy wince. "I mean, why not?"

"_Why not?_" Teddy said back to him, as though Gordie had lost it. "Are you sure you have time to go through all the reasons that's a stupid idea. Do you have a pen and paper ready?"

"Don't be a jerk, Teddy," Chris told him, before turning to Gordie. "Although I gotta admit, Gordie, he's kinda right," he said, as sympathetically as he could. "Are you sure about this, Gordie?" He had to ask. Chris would do anything to prevent Gordie from getting hurt.

"I'm sure," Gordie decided then and there. "And if they don't understand, well…" There was a pause. "I'm still working on that part," Gordie admitted embarrassingly. Gordie Lachance really was the smartest dumb guy Chris knew. "But I know I have to tell them."

"If you say so," Teddy said. "It's your funeral," he remarked and laughed.

"Gordie! Hey!" A girl's voice yelled from across the otherwise quiet street.

In the light of a streetlamp, Gordie saw the girl stood across the road, waving enthusiastically at the boy she'd only just met that very same day. Gordie's heart sunk.

"Do you know her?" Chris asked Gordie confusedly.

"Yep," Gordie said worryingly. "That's Lindsay," he explained, and Chris's heart sunk too.

Gordie hadn't been screwing with him after all.

* * *

"Lindsay, this is Chris and Teddy," Gordie said as he gestured towards his friends, who were in awe of the beautiful girl in front of them whom Gordie somehow knew.

Teddy was the first to speak. "Pleasure to meet you," he said, though his sentences were still slurred by the marijuana. Teddy had obviously failed miserably to sober up.

"Hi there," Chris said as he waved politely to Lindsay, who never took her eyes off Gordie.

"Gordie, I can't thank you enough for pointing me in the right direction back at the Library," Lindsay said. "Those books might have saved me from failing English class!"

"Oh, good!" Gordie said. He didn't know what else to say. "Well, I hope you enjoyed them."

"Oh, I did!" Lindsay claimed enthusiastically. "I really did!" She buried her hands in her pockets then. "Hey, I was wondering, do you maybe want to have coffee some tomorrow?"

Gordie was dumbfounded. He'd never been asked on a date before. Not by a boy _or_ a girl. Typical. As soon as he'd found himself a boyfriend, _all_ the girls wanted him. "I…" Gordie struggled. How could he refuse without sounding rude. Maybe telling her the truth was the only option here? "I'd love to," Gordie lied with a smile.

"Great!" Lindsay squealed excitedly. "I'll meet you after work!"

"Sure thing!" Gordie replied enthusiastically. Lindsay then checked Gordie on the cheek suddenly, but all he did was laugh. "I'll see you there," he added with lipstick on his cheek.

The three boys stood and watched Lindsay walk down the street for a while. Gordie was still dumbstruck, but also worried. He wiped the lipstick from his cheek with the back of his hand.

"You're not actually gonna go on a date with her are you, Lachance?" Chris asked in a panic.

Gordie chuckled as he turned to face Chris with a surprised look on his face. "Are you jealous, Chambers?" He asked with a smug look on his face – the kind Chris would have wanted to punch if it hadn't been a cutie like Gordie wearing it. Gordie was stunned. He'd always thought that, out of the two of them, Gordie was more likely to be jealous of Chris.

"Hell no," Chris assured Gordie, though somewhat unconvincingly.

"Hey," Gordie said softly as he put his arm over Chris' shoulder. "I like that you're jealous," he told him as he kissed Chris sweetly on the cheek. "Let's go Teddy," Gordie declared.

But Teddy hadn't yet taken his eyes off Lindsay. And his eyes were dangerously low.

* * *

**Thanks for reading as always guys! I hope you enjoyed this (short) chapter update, and are looking froward to seeing more. I know I'm excited about sharing what's next to come! So leave a REVIEW, and the next chapter goes up!**

**-George**


	9. Chapter 8: A Hundred Dollar Tip

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Chapter Eight: Pancakes, Milkshakes and a Hundred Dollar Tip

"This place has the best pancakes in town," Gordie declared from across the table. He and Lindsay had already been sat in that Diner for almost ten minutes, and Gordie hadn't looked up from his menu once. Denny's breakfast specials had his undivided attention.

"Isn't it a little late for pancakes?" Lindsay asked Gordie. Though it _was_ almost five o'clock in the afternoon, and he had just finished work, Gordie knew exactly what to say to that.

"It's _never_ too late for pancakes," Gordie claimed from his seat. "I swear to God, their blueberry muffins are unlike anything you've ever tasted," Gordie joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. He had been acting nervously all afternoon.

"Don't use God's name in vain, Gordie," Lindsay told him with a friendly smile.

That only made Gordie panic even more so. As it turned out, Lindsay was religious too. That was sure to only make this _more_ difficult than it was already bound to be. "Look, Lindsay," he said, finally looking up from his menu. "I need to tell you something," he told her seriously.

Lindsay set her menu aside and looked Gordie in his eyes. "Are you about to tell me that you're gay?" Lindsay asked, still smiling pleasantly. "Because I know that already."

Gordie was dumbstruck. He didn't know what to say. A long pause followed as he tried to string together a sentence. "What?" Gordie asked, unsure how else to react. He stuttered and croaked until he finally spat out a proper response. "How long have you known?"

"Since I saw you with that book back at the Library, idiot." Lindsay was referring to the book _Outside the Law_ by George Peterson. The book was Peterson's account of his life behind bars after being arrested because of his sexuality. Apparently, Lindsay knew of the book too.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Gordie asked. He was so confused. Had she really known all this time? He wanted to kick himself for being so stupid and forgetting about the book.

"Well, I thought eventually _you'd _say something!" She explained before rolling her eyes. "Have you even told anybody yet?" She asked as she took a sip of her strawberry milkshake.

"Yeah, my friends," Gordie told her. "My boyfriend knows too… obviously," he said foolishly.

"Well, duh!" Lindsay mocked and laughed. "So, you have a boyfriend, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah," Gordie told her with an adorable smile. "His name's Chris."

"He's not the cute blonde guy is he?" Lindsay asked, and Gordie nodded. "Damn! I knew there had to be some good reason for him not having a girlfriend," she remarked.

"I thought you were religious," Gordie pointed out. "Don't you despise people like me?" He asked uncertainly. "Doesn't the bible say that homosexuality is a sin?"

"So is being stubborn last time I checked," Lindsay observed. This girl was smart.

Gordie laughed, impressed by Lindsay. Though there were still a few things that didn't make sense. "But if you knew all along, why did you want to hang out with someone like me?"

"_Someone like you_?" Lindsay said back to him. "You say that like you're sick or something," she said. "I, for one, think you're adorable." Lindsay held Gordie's hand.

"Oh great," Gordie said sarcastically. He knew exactly what that meant. He realised then that he'd be spending the rest of his days being dragged clothes shopping with Lindsay, going to get her hair done and talking about cute boys, although that last one didn't sound too bad.

"So, when do I get to meet Chris properly?" Lindsay asked with interest.

"He's stopping by soon," Gordie assured her, excited for the two to meet.

"And, what was you're other friend called? Teddy, was it? Is he coming too?" She asked.

"Oh, you probably ought to stay as from away from him as possible," Gordie suggested as he took another look at Denny's menu. Screw it. He was ordering the pancakes.

* * *

Chris found Gordie and Lindsay at a small booth in the restaurant's loneliest corner, where Gordie had almost disappeared behind a stack of pancakes nearly twenty inches high. Chris, whose presence hadn't yet registered with either of them, slid onto the red, leather seat next to Gordie and opposite Lindsay, though she was yet to look up from her strawberry milkshake that she sipped with delight. "Hey there, lovebirds," Chris joked as he slid beside Gordie.

"So _this_ is your boyfriend?" Lindsay said, finally looking up from her sweet beverage.

"What?" Chris asked confusedly. He looked at Lindsay, then at Gordie, then back to Lindsay as he searched for an answer. "She knows?" He asked, the panic audible in his voice.

"Yeah, Chris," Gordie said. "She's not an idiot She _always_ knew," he explained.

"But… How!?" Chris asked, still hopelessly lost and confused.

"Girls always know," Lindsay explained as he stirred her milkshake with a spoon.

"Is that so?" Chis asked, smiling. He was starting to like this girl.

"Wait, does that mean my Mom knows?" Gordie asked. "What about _his_ Mom?" He asked, gesturing towards Chris. If their Moms knew, would their Dad's know too?

"I don't know," Lindsay admitted. "Maybe."

"Well, I'm still alive, so _my_ Mom can't know," Chris explained. "Otherwise she would have told my Dad, and I'd have gotten hided like I've never been hided before."

"You can't _beat_ the gay out of someone, Chris," Lindsay taught Chris, though she appeared to have hit some kind of a soft spot. Chris looked almost offended, and so did Gordie.

"Who are you calling gay?" Chris asked defensively.

"What? You!" Lindsay said. "You and Gordie! I mean, you _are_ aren't you?"

Before Chris could respond, Gordie put and arm on his shoulder comfortingly. "Chris, it's okay," he assured him, and Chris appeared to cool down. Gordie then turned to Lindsay. "I'm sorry, Lindsay. I guess we're just still not used to all this," he explained with a sorry look on his face. "It's still a little weird, even for us. I mean, we've never known anyone else like us. All our lives we've been taught how wrong it is. And that word, the one you just used, it feels like we should feel guilty for being it. Like there's something wrong with us."

Lindsay was stunned. She'd never heard Gordie, or _any_ other boy she'd ever known for that matter, speak out like he had just then. Gordie still looked at her with those puppy eyes that made her choke up inside. But Lindsay. She pulled herself together, and urged Gordie to do the same. "Don't be an idiot," she told him, and now Gordie was stunned. "There's nothing wrong with you two," she urged them both as she took their hands in hers. But they both remained unconvinced.

Lindsay sat back. She knew exactly how to pull these two out of whatever rotten mood had brought them so far down. "Are you two happy?" Lindsay asked quite simply. "Together? As a couple? Are you happy together?" She waited for her answer.

Chris and Gordie exchanged puzzled looks, though they both had their answer. "Absolutely," Gordie told her, and Chris nodded encouragingly.

"Does what you're doing _feel_ wrong?" She then asked as she continued to stir her milkshake.

"Not at all," Gordie said, and Chris shook his head. "It feels…" Gordie gulped.

"Go on," Lindsay urged Gordie.

"…It feels like the rightest thing in the world," Gordie said as he squeezed Chris' hand.

"Wow, Gordie," Lindsay said, left breathless by Gordie's words. "That might be the corniest thing I've ever heard." Lindsay laughed and picked up her milkshake.

"Shut up!" Gordie said, before eventually joining Lindsay and laughing at himself. He then handed Chris a fork. "Dig in Chris," he urged him. "I can't eat all these pancakes on my own."

"I'd be glad to," Chris said, taking the fork. "This place has the best pancakes in town."

* * *

Chris felt as though he had gone up a couple of belt sizes by the time he and Gordie had cleared their plates. Together, they had eaten every last bite of the stack of pancakes that had once towered over Gordie, they only wished they felt a little bit better about it. Chris felt ready to explode, and Gordie was sure he was one more bite away from a long overdue heart attack. He wiped the syrup from his lips and burped loudly, but quickly covered his mouth and begged the others to excuse him. Gordie Lachance never forgot his manners.

"Wow, you two." Lindsay sat back, her eyebrows raised, surprised by the two's success in besting the stack of pancakes that was almost taller than her. "Not bad. Not bad at all."

Chris licked the ice cream from his lips as he laid back, a small belly hanging over his belt, and smiled back at Lindsay. He'd never looked les charming than he did there and then. "Don't act so surprised," he said smugly. "Me and Gordie here, we get through anything and everything together." Chris took Gordie's hand. "Nothing gets in _our_ way."

"Damn right!" Gordie said, those two being the only words he could possibly muster.

"Speaking of which," Chris said as he reached into his trouser pocket. He licked his lips again as he searched his pockets, eventually pulling out a stack of dollar bills, and setting it against the table for Gordie and Lindsay to see and drool over.

"Chris, what the hell _is_ this?" Gordie asked in a panic. He knew exactly where that money had come from, and he knew what it meant for him and Chris. "Did you steal this?"

"I _earned_ this money," Chris assured Gordie. "All five hundred dollars," he said.

"Five hundred dollars!?" Lindsay exclaimed a little too loudly. "Where did you get that?"

"I've been saving up," Chris explained. "See, Gordie? I told you I'd find a way. Now we can go anywhere, do anything. Nothing gets in _our_ way," Chris repeated.

"Chris, you can't be serious," Gordie said, though he struggled to pull his gaze off the green dollar bills that had been laid out in front of him like an all you can eat buffet. "This is drug money! We can't spend drug money," he said, keeping his voice down. "Besides, it's not enough anyway," he explained regretfully.

Chris felt as though he had just been punched. He had been so proud of the money he'd saved, even though he hadn't earned that money strictly legally, he _had_ worked hard for it. "How much is enough?" Chris asked, wondering what he would have to do to escape and leave Castle Rock behind him for good. He needed to get out of this town, but he wasn't going anywhere without Gordie.

"How about every dollar in Ace Merrill's safe?" Gordie suggested, though he had only been joking. He quickly realised the mistake he'd made. "But don't go trying anything stupid, Chris," Gordie urged Chris, even though the two had had this conversation many times before. "He'd kill you," Gordie reminded Chris. He had said _that_ plenty of times before too.

"Yeah," Chris agreed. "You're right." But Chris hadn't forgotten the plan he'd come up with the first time he'd seen the huge pile of cash Ace Merrill had stashed away in that safe of his. A safe he now trusted Chris alone with. A safe with enough money inside for Chris and Gordie to run far, far away and never have to look back. Chris had planned to steal the money and do exactly that. Now, it appeared there was no other option left.

"Anyway, let's get out of here," Gordie suggested as he sat up from their booth and led Lindsay out of the restaurant. "You know, I was thinking about telling my parents everything tomorrow," he told Lindsay as the two strolled towards the exit.

"Back up a second," Chris heard Lindsay say. "When were you gonna tell me your boyfriend was a drug dealer?" Lindsay asked as Chris gathered the dollar bills. He stuffed them back into his pocket, leaving a hundred dollar bill as a tip, and followed Gordie and Lindsay out.

Gordie sighed. "It's a long story."

**Hope you guys are enjoying this story! We're over halfway through now, and things are about to get crazy! I'm still working on the next chapter, but in the meantime please leave a REVIEW of the story so far, and FOLLOW/FAVOURITE if you haven't already. I really can't wait for you guys to read the next few chapters, so I'll try and get Chapter Four up by Friday!**

**Take care, and I'll see all you guys Friday!**

**-George**


	10. Chapter 9: Here he is to Save the Day!

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Chapter Nine: "Here He Comes to Save the Day!"

Gordie Lachance could feel his heart vibrating. He sat on his hands, his eyes scanning the carpet between his feet, taking care to dodge his parent's gaze, who watched him sit uncomfortably from across the room. Gordie's parents sat with about a foot between them. His father had his arms folded impatiently, whilst his mother sat more comfortably as she waited for her son to gather his thoughts. Gordie had asked politely for a word with his parents in privacy, and to his surprise they had responded. So here they sat, twiddling their thumbs as Gordie struggled to find a decent starting place.

Gordie heard his father sigh. If there was one thing he hated more than missing the football, as he was right now, it was having his time wasted. His mother, however, continued to sit patiently, though she still had no clue as to why. "What's on your mind, sweetie?" She asked.

"I don't know where to begin," Gordie responded, ignoring the fact that that had been the first time his mother had called him a sweetie since Denny had died.

"Just tell us what's bothering you, son," his father insisted, almost sounding sincere. He hadn't been interested in his feelings for as long as Gordie could remember, but if it meant he could get back to watching the game, he would give his son as much attention as he needed. "What's on your mind?" He asked, leaning forward as he feigned interest in his son.

"Mom. Dad." Gordie took a deep breath, finally made eye contact with the parents he once thought had forgotten he existed (they sure as he wouldn't forget him now), and let the chips fall where they may. "I… I don't wanna date girls," he said, being as subtle as possible. Would they catch on immediately, or was Gordie going to have to speak a little clearer?

"Well, it might be best that you focus on your studies for now," Gordie's mother suggested. Though she's rarely even asked how his day went, Gordie's mother had always wanted him to succeed academically, just as his brother had. "You've got College coming up after all," she reminded him, as though Gordie could possibly have forgotten.

"No, I mean, I don't like girls." Gordie felt his heart stop. That was it. What else was there to be said? Now, all Gordie could do was wait to see how his parents would take the news.

"But, you've never had a girlfriend," his mother reminded him, as if he could have possibly forgotten that either. "How can you know for sure?" She asked him, as though she was talking about a food he'd never tired. How could he explain. He just _knew_.

His father had been silent the entire time. To Gordie, that was not a good sign. "I think you two should know," Gordie began, the words that followed would be the final nails in his proverbial coffin, "I've been seeing someone." He watched his father's fists tighten.

"You mean another boy?" His father asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah," Gordie replied as he bowed his heads shamefully. He wasn't ashamed of himself, however, he was ashamed for his father. He only wished he could have possibly understood. But Gordie knew he never would. Not in his lifetime. "Chris Chambers."

"The milk money thief!?" His father asked in disbelief. Finding it hard enough to know that his son was dating another boy, he now had to swallow the fact that he was dating a no-good troublemaker like Chris Chambers. "I…" Gordie watched as his father struggled to word an appropriate response. "I think you should go to your room," he decided, and Gordie noticed the way his father hadn't added the word _son_ onto the end of that sentence.

Gordie felt himself trembling. Before he embarrassed himself any further, he shot out of his seat and darted up the stairs, violently pounding on each step, and up to his room, slamming the door behind him with enough force to bring the house down. Gordie decided then that this was no longer his home. He had no home, and he also had no parents. Not anymore.

* * *

"CBS presents this programme in colour!" The television was excited to announce, despite its inability to actually show colour television. Instead, much like everything else in that house, the TV was gray and dull, with no sign of changing any time soon.

A cigarette between his lips and his hands stuffed in a bag full of pork rinds, Teddy Duchamp found himself feeling quite content as he sat in his father's armchair, which was covered in cigarette burns as it was, as he enjoyed an episode of _Mighty Mouse_ on the television alone and in peace. At least, he had been alone until three loud knocks on his front door suggested otherwise. Teddy sighed. He had _just_ been enjoying his favourite cartoon, eating his favourite snack, and smoking his favourite brand of cigarettes. He took his feet off the comfy footrest, and stepped over to his front door, managing not to take his eyes off the television and Mighty Mouse as he did so. He also took the bag of pork rinds with him, and didn't even think about taking the already lit cigarette out of his mouth. Whoever was trying to sell him stuff at the ridiculous time of 9 o'clock at night would have to put up with his many slobbish habits.

"Look, I don't know what you're selling, and frankly my dear I don't give a fuck," Teddy told his unannounced guest as he unlocked his front door and swung the thing open, "but my Dad told me never to talk to strangers when I was a kid, so you'd better…" That was when Teddy recognised the visitor on his porch. "Oh," he uttered pathetically. "It's you."

"Your Dad also tell you to swear like a trooper and smoke all his cigarettes?" Gordie responded sarcastically with the cheekiest smile Teddy had ever bared witness to.

"Very funny, dick." Teddy took a drag from his cigarette and blew smoke in Gordie's long face as he let him inside. "What are you doing here, anyways?" Teddy asked. That was when he noticed the brown, leather suitcase Gordie held tightly. It was covered in bumper stickers, one of which read the name: DENNY, in bold, black letters.

Teddy stood, his hands grasping for pork rinds, and watched Gordie turn pale as he relived the horrible experience he'd had back at home less than an hour ago all over again. He saw Gordie begin to tremble. He set down the suitcase, and eventually Gordie burst into tears.

Teddy didn't know what to do. He'd never seen Gordie cry before. The only time he'd seen Gordie look anywhere near as troubled and disturbed as he appeared now was when he'd first seen the body of Ray Brower, the dead kid they'd spent one summer's day searching for after he'd lost his life on the railroad. His expression had been as cold and empty as it had been when he'd first looked into the dead eyes of Ray Brower's corpse. Now, Gordie stood in front of Teddy, tears flowing from his hazel eyes like waterworks. And so, Teddy Duchamp did something he'd never done before. He was compassionate. Teddy opened his arms and embraced Gordie, wrapping his arms around his friend for a warm hug. He could feel his cheek against his, and it was hot with tears. "Shhh," he urged. "It's okay," he assured Gordie softly as he looked at his friend and smiled warmly. Gordie never knew Teddy was capable of being so comforting and caring, and the boy felt his heart leap.

"What the hell happened, Gordie?" Teddy asked, concerned for his friend.

"It's my parents," Gordie explained, wiping hot tears from his tired eyes. "I told them everything." Gordie looked up at Teddy, looking ready to burst into tears again. "They kicked me out," he said, his voice croaky as he struggled to keep himself from falling apart.

"Ya see?" Teddy took his arms off Gordie. "I warned ya!" He reminded Gordie with a smug look on his face that, at this moment in time, Gordie would have happily punched.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to go back to being an asshole," Gordie said.

"Hey," Teddy said, putting a hand on Gordie's shoulder. "You love me really," he said smugly.

"Yeah," Gordie agreed. "I do." Gordie loved all his friends. Only _some_ more than others Gordie hoped then that the friend he loved most of all, Chris Chambers, was on his way.

* * *

As a matter of fact, Chris Chambers was on his way to Gordie Lachance's house as he and Teddy spoke. Unfortunately for him, he was still oblivious to the fact that Gordie was long gone from the hellhole he once called a home, and was now busy getting drunk with Teddy Duchamp in a room littered with ashtrays, beer bottles and pizza boxes. It appeared he had swapped a hellhole for a slum. Luckily, Chris was here, carrying a duffle bag containing more money than he could count, to get him out of this town once and for all. Chris had always dreamed of leaving Castle Rock behind him. Tonight, with that bag full of money and nobody to stop him, he got to finally live that dream. But he wasn't going anywhere without Gordie.

He pounded on the wooden door for a third time. The banging shook the windows and rattled the walls of the Lachance's house. Chris was getting inpatient. He was about to pound on that same door again when the porch lit up, near blinding him, as the lamp above the front door flickered alight with a beaming, golden glow that made Chris shine angelically.

Chris began to hear slow footsteps from inside as who could only be Mr. Lachance, Gordie's stubborn father, made his way down the stairs to answer to the unannounced guest pounding furiously on his front door. Chris heard the latch on the front door being unlocked frantically. He began to neaten his shirt and tidy his hair as the door finally swung open.

Mr. Lachance was rubbing his eyes, trying desperately to wake from what must have been a pleasant sleep, as he peered outside to see the face of the visitor on his doorstep. When he saw Chris' face, a face he clearly recognised, his eyes widened. He was wide awake now.

"You're the Chambers kid, aren't you?" Mr. Lachance asked. Chris could tell by the dirty way the old man looked at him that he knew him as nothing more than a petty milk thief. For some reason, it didn't sadden Chris to know that the father of the boy he loved would only ever see him as a no-good thief, because Chris would never see _him_ as anything more than an cold, selfish, stubborn, pathetic old asshole. Chris decided he could live with that.

"What do you think you're doing on my porch at this time?" The pathetic old asshole asked.

"I'm not here for you," Chris told him, though he soon realised how discourteous he'd sounded. "Sir," he added respectively. "I'm here to see Gordie."

"Well, you can't see him." Mr. Lachance folded his arms stubbornly. "Gordie told me everything," he explained. "I don't know what kind of sick, twisted practical joke you two are playing, but it ends tonight," he told Chris. "Do you understand me?"

Chris knew what he _should_ have said. He _should_ have agreed that he and Gordie had been playing a joke, that it wasn't funny and that they'd _both_ give it up immediately. He would also agree to stay away from Gordie, like he always did (although that had never lasted). That's what he _should_ have said. But that isn't what he _did_ say. Finally, Chris told the truth.

Perhaps it had been down to all the years Mr. Lachance had spoken to Chris so condescendingly, but something in Chris finally snapped. "No," he said firmly.

"Excuse me," Mr. Lachance said, looking down at Chris as though he was trash.

"I said no," Chris repeated. "If Gordie really did tell you everything, then he'd have told you the him and I care about each other. A lot. This isn't a game, Mr. Lachance. I _love_ your son, and I would do anything for him." Chris could feel his heart vibrating.

Mr. Lachance took a deep breath. "I want you off my porch. Now," he told him coldly.

Chris, who would always make the best peace, decided to turn and step off Mr. Lachance's porch peacefully, but before he did so, he told the pathetic old asshole something.

"You have a really gifted son, Mr. Lachance. I hope you know that," he said from the bottom steps of the porch. "You're a lucky man. You should be proud. I know _I_ am."

And with that, Chris Chambers took his final step from the porch, unaware that he and the pathetic old asshole would never cross paths again. Chris decided he could live with _that_ too.

**CONTINUES IN CHAPTER TEN.**

**Hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter! Getting these latest chapters uploaded regularly has been difficult, so if you could leave your thoughts in a REVIEW below that would be great. Chapter Ten (which may be the craziest chapter of the entire story!) should go up by the end of the week.**

**Take care,**

**-George**


	11. Chapter 10: The Problem, Rabid and Stray

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Chapter Ten: The Problem Dog, the Rabid and the Stray

"What the fuck happened?" Ace Merrill barked at his boys like a rabid dog as he waltzed into the back room of Charlie Hogan's house, where he kept his earnings in an old safe. He had trusted Charlie with the safe full of money, not because he was the most loyal of the gang, but because he was the most stupid – too stupid to remember the combination, anyway. But, as Ace could now see, someone smart enough _to_ remember had swooped in, broken into the safe, and taken every dollar inside. He asked what had happened, but he knew damn well.

"Someone took it all," Billy Tessio explained from where he hid behind Charlie, "every dollar." He knew Ace was prone to fits of rage, and didn't want to be in his way when it happened.

"I can see that," Ace said venomously. He tried to breath, but he was already seeing red. He turned his attention to Charlie. "Now, I want you to explain to me how someone, not only broke into your own home, but broke into _my_ safe, took _my_ money, and got out again without you even noticing," he asked furiously, taking dangerous steps towards Charlie.

Charlie Hogan, the young man who had once bested Ace Merrill and his entire gang in an arm wrestling tournament, looked ready to piss himself. "I- I wasn't here, Ace! None of us were!" He assured Ace as he stepped back from the time bomb slowly ticking in front of him. "We were down at the bowling alley. We were all night," he explained, panic shaking his voice.

Ace looked more furious than ever. Charlie could feel his cold, poisonous eyes staring into the depths of his soul, like some kind of demon. "You left my safe unlocked, and went _bowling_?" He asked with disbelief. He knew Charlie Hogan was stupid. But this was just embarrassing.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Charlie denied. He felt himself sinking to the floor as Ace towered over him with accusing eyes. "That safe was locked up tight, I swear!" He was telling the truth.

Ace sighed and rubbed his forehead, which stung with a striking pain. "So," Ace began, and Charlie gulped, "the safe was all locked up." Charlie nodded. Had he finally convinced Ace? "That means that the only person who could have stolen all this money _must_ have known the combination," he realised. "And the only people who know that combination, are in this room," he declared. He turned back to Charlie. "I'm looking at you, Hogan."

"What!?" Charlie spat back with absolute and honest confusion. "Me!?" He stuttered and stumbled. "Ace, I- You know I would never do something _this_ stupid. I mean I- I-," he uttered as he tried to reason with Ace, who drew a butterfly knife from his pocket. The knife glistened in the room's light, and Charlie could almost feel the sharp edge of the blade at his throat. "Ace, please!" Ace put a hand around his neck, and held the blade close.

"Ace! STOP!" Billy shouted across the room, though he could hardly believe he'd just given an order to Ace Merrill. "He didn't do it," he told him. "Me and Charlie were together all of last night. When we got back here, the safe was open and the money was gone," he explained. The adrenaline had made his heart thump in his ribcage. "And I think I know who took it."

Ace pulled away from Charlie, removing the blade from his throat. "Well, do tell."

"It was the Chambers kid," Billy told him, referring to _Chris_ Chambers. "I'm sure of it."

Ace sighed. Billy was sure he could see a feeling of pain behind his eyes, as though he genuinely felt betrayed. "I guess that explains why he's not here," he said, and Charlie and Billy both nodded in agreement. "Alright," he decide, "he's dead."

"Whoa, Ace!" Billy exclaimed as he jumped in his way. "We're talking about a kid, here."

"A kid?" Ace repeated with confusion. "He's twenty years old!" He said, confusing Billy and Charlie both. "Don't let Eyeball hear you calling him a kid," Ace said and laughed.

"Eyeball?" Billy asked. It appeared Ace had gotten the wrong end of the stick, here.

"Yeah," Ace said. "That is who you meant, right?" He asked with uncertainty.

At that moment, Billy Tessio was forced to make a difficult decision. He could have explained that he'd actually meant _Chris_ Chambers, the younger of the Chambers brothers, and not his older brother Richard (whom they'd nicknamed "Eyeball"). But then Billy realised something. If Ace and the gang were to go after Chris, the kid would likely put up a fight. Ace would hurt him, and hurt him _bad_. Vern, Billy's younger brother, was good friends with Chris. Billy realised that, if Chris were to come to harm, the kid wouldn't be the only one who got hurt. By protecting Chris, Billy would also be protecting his brother and therefore his family.

Chris' older brother Eyeball was one tough guy. Billy decided he could take whatever beating Ace gave him. Besides, in the end, Ace would find out that it _wasn't_ in fact Eyeball who took the money, and that his younger brother was actually responsible. But hopefully by then, Chris Chambers would be long gone. And so, Billy made his decision.

"Yeah," he agreed. "That's who I meant," he told Ace. "Sorry."

By sparing Chris Chambers, Billy Tessio had done the first good thing he'd ever done. At that point, however, he couldn't possibly have known the serious consequences his decision would have on himself, the Chambers family, Ace Merrill, and the whole of Castle Rock.

* * *

Teddy Duchamp opened his front door to reveal his second visitor of the evening.

"Is Gordie here?" Chris Chambers asked from Teddy's porch.

"Chris! Hey!" Teddy greeted him enthusiastically. He could use some help right now. "Yeah, he's inside. Come on in." He swung the door as far open as it would go and let Chris inside.

Chris stepped inside Teddy's home, still carrying the big, black duffel bag filled with money.

He found Gordie sat on Teddy's sofa watching _Might Mouse_ with his hand in a packet of pork rinds. He turned to see Chris when he heard the wooden floorboards creak under his weight.

"Chris?" He got up from the sofa as he tidied his hair and wiped his face. Chris could see that Gordie's eyes were red. Had he been crying? "What are you doing here?" Gordie asked.

"Gordie," Chris said. He'd never been happier to see him. He quickly grabbed Gordie and wrapped his arms around him. He then kissed Gordie gently but passionately on the lips.

"I went to your house," Chris explained. "You weren't there?"

Gordie sighed. "I told them everything – my parents," he explained to Chris. "They kicked me out." Gordie looked ready to burst into tears all over again. Chris held him in his arms again.

"I can't believe they'd be so cruel," he claimed, although in truth he _could_ believe it very well.

"My Dad told me not to come back until I stopped this," Gordie said. "He thinks we're playing some kind of game, Chris." Gordie could barely contain how much he despised his father right now. The words he had told Gordie when he'd left him on the porch had made his blood boil. Little did Gordie know, they'd had a similar effect on Chris.

"I know, Gordie," Chris explained. "I talked to him. I told him that this wasn't a game," Chris went on. "I also told him I loved you." He'd been excited to tell Gordie that part most off all.

"You did?" Gordie asked. He could hardly believe it. But a sad realisation then occurred to Gordie, and it made his eyes well up tears again. "I can never go back, can I?" Gordie asked.

"You don't have to," Chris explained. He dropped the duffel bag at Gordie's feet. "Open it."

Gordie seemed confused. He gulped nervously and knelt down to open the duffel bag. He unzipped it and tore it open like a bug Christmas present, only to find nothing but shirts, socks and underwear inside. "Chris?" He asked with confusion. "What the hell is this?"

"Oh shit," Chris cursed, releasing he had picked up the wrong bag. Instead of the duffel bag filled with the money he'd stolen from Ace's safe, he'd picked up a bag filled with his older brothers clothes packed for College. That was when Chris realised something else. He darted out of Teddy's door as quickly as he'd arrived, ignoring Gordie's calls after him.

* * *

Richard 'Eyeball' Chambers was to leave the comfort of his home in the peaceful, tranquil town of Castle Rock the following morning. His scumbag parents had decided that enough was enough, and had enrolled him into Military School. His train left at the early time of 7 o'clock tomorrow morning, meaning an early night wouldn't be a bad idea. Before did turn in, however, Eyeball decided to check his bags were all packed one last time, and that there was nothing he'd forgotten. Otherwise, he would spend the next two to three years regretting it.

He found the duffel bag he'd packed earlier that night by the front door where he'd left it, right next to the same pair of shoes he'd spent almost a whole hour shining.

Eyeball knelt down to unzip the bag. What he found inside, left him speechless. Almost speechless, anyway. "Holy shit," he cursed when he found the dollar bills stuffed inside the bag where his tank tops and boxer short should have been. "I don't believe it," he said to himself once he'd figured out exactly what had happened. "Chris, you're in so much trouble."

At that moment, Eyeball's though was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a fierce and powerful pounding on his front door. He gulped nervously. This was Ace's money, and he was here to collect. "EYEBALL! OPEN UP!" He heard Ace shout. "NOW!" So he did.

Eyeball quickly unlocked his door and swung it open, revealing Ace Merrill, Charlie Hogan and Billy Tessio on his doorstep. "Where is it?" Ace asked in a cold, raspy voice that made the hairs on the back of Eyeball's neck stand up. "The money, Richard. Where is it?"

Eyeball felt himself shaking. He shook his head in denial. "It's not here," he claimed.

Ace sighed. This wild goose chase had been going on for far too long. Suddenly, he threw his fist against Eyeball's face in a wild attack. He felt the bridge of his nose collapse under his fist. The force of the blow sent Eyeball into the air and then back to the floor where he cried cowardly in pain. Eyeball crawled backwards as his nose bled relentlessly.

"You son of a bitch!" Eyeball cursed Ace and his boys as he wiped his bloody nose. "Your money's not here!" He shouted, loud enough for the entire street to hear.

Though the blood had reached his eyes, and Eyeball's vision was now blurry and red, he could still see Ace reach into the back of his trousers and pull out his father's snub nosed pistol. He heard the gun click. The sound echoed through the walls of his home.

"Then where'd you put it!?" Ace asked furiously, as he looked at Eyeball down the barrel of his father's pistol. "Please, Richard, I don't want to hurt you," Ace claimed. "Just tell me."

"Ace!" Charlie shouted from beside him. "It's all here!" He said as he pulled a stack of dollar bills from a black duffel bag below him. "Every dollar's here, I'm sure of it."

"Well, well, well," Ace said with a smug but also slightly deranged look on his face.

"You don't understand," Eyeball interrupted suddenly. "It was Chris! It was all Chris!" Eyeball explained in a panic, earning a confused look from Ace, and a scared look from Billy Tessio. "But he's just a kid. He made a stupid mistake. Don't hurt him," Eyeball begged of Ace.

Ace smiled. "Nice try, Richard. But I know damn well that you've been after this money ever since you first laid your greedy eyes on it." Ace and his boys laughed. "Now," he said with deadly seriousness, "get out of Castle Rock, and don't ever show you face here again. Ever."

As Charlie swung the duffel bag filled with cash over his shoulder, Billy opened the front door to let him out. In one last attempt to reach out to his friend, Eyeball reached into his back pocket to pull out something he thought might finally bring Ace to his senses.

Ace's gaze went from Billy and Charlie back to Eyeball, whom he now saw was pulling a weapon from one of his back pockets. In a sudden fit of panic, Ace quickly raised his snub nosed pistol and pulled the trigger. In an explosion that deafened Ace and lit the room up in a white flash, Ace saw the bullet enter Eyeball's chest, and could only watch as he fell to the floor, still and lifeless. Ace watched his friend bleed out, until his blood reached his feet.

Ace dropped the gun, his hands still shaking. "Ace," Charlie said from behind him. "What did you do?" He asked. They all knew what had happened, they simply couldn't believe it.

Ace knelt beside Eyeball, praying in his own head that there was some chance he was still alive. But the boy was dead, and Ace was kneeling in his blood. In Eyeball's hand, he noticed a crumpled piece of paper. Ace took it and unraveled it. It was an old, worn photograph of Ace and Eyeball as kids, playing in Ace's back garden. Ace tucked the photo into his pocket. Before he joined Billy and Charlie in fleeing the house, he closed his friends eyes. The fact that they would never reopen was a tragedy that pained Ace Merrill even to this day.

**Wow. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and aren't too angry/traumatized. Let me know what you thought by leaving a REVIEW below! The sooner you do, the sooner Chapter Eleven goes up!**

**Thanks, by the way, to everyone who has already left REVIEWS so far. I really like hearing back and it seems a lot of people ar enjoying the story so far. So, I hope you continue to enjoy! We're nearing the end now, so fasten your seatbelts!**

**Take care,**

**-George**


	12. Chapter 11: Ham & Pineapple Pizza

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Chapter Eleven: Ham & Pineapple Pizza, and Other Crimes

Richard Chambers' funeral was on a Friday afternoon. His younger brother Chris was pulled out of school for the day to attend. Whether it was grandparents from Utah, or an Aunt and Uncle from New York City, it appeared the entirety of the Chambers family would be attending. Gordie Lachance even played truant to be at Chris' side when his brother was buried, however welcome or unwelcome he way have been. Chris Chambers realised as he fastened his tie around his collar that, despite his tendencies to turn his life into a living hell at times, he loved his brother. Life without him was something Chris struggled to imagine. Who would be there to steal and break his toys? To call him obscene names and play fight? To wrestle him to the ground over the last slice of pie? Chris was going to miss his brother.

A knock on the door signaled Gordie's arrival. Chris ran to the door and swung it open to let Gordie inside. "Hey," he said as cheerfully as he could, his smile was as dim as the sun on that cloudy afternoon. Almost immediately, Gordie was hugging Chris. Chris began to cry.

"It's alright Chris." Gordie comforted Chris as he cried on his shoulder. "I'm here."

"I'm sorry, Gordie," Chris apologised as he pulled himself off Gordie and wiped his eyes clean.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for," Gordie told him. He held Chris' hand and squeezed.

"Not here," Chris urged as he took his hand out of Gordie's and pulled away.

Gordie sighed. He knew he needed to be comforting right now, but he was getting tired of having to hide relationship with Chris, as well as everything else. "Why not?" Gordie asked.

"Don't be an idiot," Chris told him, a little too aggressively. "You know why."

Gordie took Chris' hand again. This time, Chris didn't pull away. Even if he tried, he Gordie wouldn't let him. He hadn't come all this way to hide forever. "Why don't you just tell your parents everything?" He asked, even though he knew the answer. "Just tell them the truth."

"What truth?" Chris asked, raising his voice a little too high. "That I got my brother killed because I stole money to run away with my secret boyfriend? That I've been selling drugs so that I can hop on the first train out of here? Or that I'm never gonna get married, or have a family? What do you want me to do Gordie?" Chris asked desperately.

Gordie looked at Chris without a shred of pity. "I want you to stop being ashamed of me."

Chris was speechless. "Gordie, I- I'm _not_ ashamed of you," Chris promised him. He put his hands on Gordie's cheeks and smiled. "I love you, you idiot!" He kissed him on the lips.

Gordie smiled. But something was still bothering him. "You should tell them about Ace and the drugs." He heard Chris sigh. "If you tell them what happened, they can find Ace and put him in jail!" Gordie explained. "Isn't that what you want? He murdered you brother, Chris!"

"I know that, Gordie!" Chris shouted. "I know that!" He bowed his head. "I just can't do it…"

"Can't do what?" A voice asked from above them both. Chris' heart sunk as he saw his mother step down his staircase, a concerned look on her face. "What is it, Chris?"

Chris gulped. "You can do it," Gordie whispered encouragingly in his ear.

Chris sighed. "Okay," he mumbled. It was finally time to tell the whole truth. At least if he told someone about Ace Merrill and the drugs, the police might be able to catch him and put him away, and Chris might not have to be punished. At least, not too harshly. "Mom, there's something I need to tell you," Chris began. The words flowed surprisingly well considering he was about to admit to his own mother that he was a drug dealer. "It might be hard to deal with at first," Chris said as Gordie put an encouraging hand on his shoulder, "but I-"

"It's okay, sweetie," Chris' mother told him. "I know. I've always known…"

Chris swore under his breath. She knew? All this time she knew he had been dealing drugs for Ace's gang? How could she possibly have known? Chris knew he was in so much trouble.

"…But you what you have to know is I love you…"

_Here it comes_, Chris thought to himself. He was about to receive a brutal lecture.

"…I'm _so_ proud of you…"

_Wait a minute, what?_ Chris was so confused. She was… proud?

"…And I'm just ever so happy you boys found each other," Chris' mother concluded as she hugged both Chris _and_ Gordie. Now, everything made sense.

"Actually, Mom, that's not what I needed to talk to you about," Chris said.

Once she finally took her arms off them both, Chris' mother put her hands on his cheeks and squeezed. "I know things are hard for you right now, Chris. And I know you need your mother. These next few months aren't going to be any easier, what with Richard gone and all. But I promise, I'll always be here for you. And you too Gordie," she told Gordie.

"Thanks, Mrs. Chambers," Gordie said politely. He was always so polite.

Before disappearing into the kitchen Chris' mother turned back to Gordie. "Welcome to the family, by the way," she told Gordie. She then disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the two boys in a stunned silence that lasted until it was time for the funeral.

* * *

That was not the only strange thing to happen to Chris and Gordie that day. After Eyeball's funeral, Gordie and Chris took a stroll down the street to Teddy's house, where they hoped to grab a couple of beers and relax for the rest of what had been an odd and stressful day.

In his hands, Gordie carried a piping hot pizza in a cardboard box they'd bought from a takeaway pizzeria in town. Although Gordie had been where Chris was not so long ago, he was still helpless when it came to talking to him about losing his brother. Chris had offered his shoulder to cry on when Denny had died, now Gordie had to do the same thing.

"Why did he have to die, Gordie?" Chris asked him. This was a question Gordie has asked about his late older brother Denny to both himself and Chris many, many times. After all this time, he still had no answer.

"He didn't," Gordie told him. It was all he could think to say. "He shouldn't have died, Chris. He didn't deserve what happened. Nobody did," he went on. He almost felt sad for Eyeball, who had found himself in the middle of a series of unfortunate events. "It was a mistake," he went on. "But we can fix this. We just need to go to the police," he urged Chris.

"No," Chris argued. "I told you, no police!" Chris clenched his fists angrily. "You have to stop bringing this up, Gordie. Especially around my parents. You saw what you did back there."

"Hey, don't act like I didn't do you a favor back there," Gordie said. "Your Mom knew about us from the beginning. Don't you feel better about all this now?" He asked Gordie as he put a hand on his shoulder. "I know I felt better when I told my parents."

"How!?" Chris asked, totally aghast. "They kicked your ass out!"

"Well, apart from that, I felt good!" Gordie assured him. "Does your Dad know?"

"I'm still alive aren't I?" Chris sighed. "That means he doesn't know. Not yet, anyway."

"You think your Mom will tell him?" Gordie asked Chris, who seemed to have cooled down.

"Not unless she wants to see him try to beat it out of me," Chris said, though he managed to laugh about it afterwards. "How did my Mom know in the first place?" He asked Gordie.

"I'm not sure, Chris," Gordie said uncertainly. "I guess some all Moms just _know_."

"Your Mom didn't know," Chris reminded Gordie, as though he'd forgotten.

"Yeah, well, my Mom's been seeing through me for the past few years," Gordie replied.

"Denny would have known," Chris decided with certainty. "He'd have known, and he'd have been there for you." He put one hand around Gordie and unfastened his tie with the other. "But I guess you're stuck with me instead, Lachance." He smiled at Gordie and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. They were stepping on to Teddy's porch now.

"I'm one lucky guy," Gordie said sarcastically, though he couldn't have meant it more. He knocked on Teddy's door. "Teddy! It's us! We brought pizza!" He shouted through the wooden, oak door, hoping the part about pizza would make Teddy hurry.

"WHAT?" Teddy shouted from inside. Gordie heard him curse under his breath. "GO AWAY! I- I'M BUSY!" He shouted, confusing both Gordie and Chris. Teddy was turning down pizza?

"Teddy?" Chris now spoke through the door. "What's going on in there? I thought we were gonna hang out today?" He knocked again. "We brought pizza! Ham and pineapple!"

"HAM AND PINEAPPLE!? ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Teddy shouted. "LOOK, I'M BUSY RIGHT NOW! COME BACK LATER!" He urged them both. Chris, for one, liked pineapple on pizza.

"Come back later?" Chris repeated, failing to understand Teddy's logic. "I thought you told him we were gonna meet today?" He asked Gordie, who appeared just as confused.

"I did," Gordie assured him. "He told me to come here at five o'clock." He checked his watch. "And its' five now." Gordie sighed. "This must be about the pizza. I told you not to get ham and pineapple!" He told Chris. "Nobody likes ham and pineapple!"

"_No_, he said he was busy!" Chris told Gordie. "With _what_, I don't know." He scratched his head. What the hell was Teddy doing? "And for the record, you couldn't be more wrong about ham and pineapple," he told Gordie with a smile.

"Whatever," Gordie responded as he approached the front door and pushed it open effortlessly. "Teddy!" He shouted. "We're coming in. If you're masturbating, you better tell us now!" That was usually the only excuse Teddy Duchamp had to be at all busy.

But today was different.

"What the hell?" Gordie shouted when he saw the girl Teddy had his arms wrapped around, and who had her lips on his mouth as the two made out in Teddy's armchair.

The girl was Lindsay.

"Oh shit," Teddy cursed as he pushed Lindsay off his lap and searched his armchair for his glasses, which had fallen somewhere under the cushions. "I said I was busy!"

Chris began to laugh. "Gordie thought you were masturbating," he explained.

"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you, Lachance?" He mocked as he dug out his glasses.

"What are you doing here, Lindsay?" Gordie asked, having still not figured it out.

"Actually… We were sorta, kinda on a date," Lindsay explained as she buttoned her blouse.

Gordie was taken aback. His jaw hung open, and he was too stunned to talk.

"On a date?" Chris asked in disbelief. "With Teddy Duchamp?" Chris laughed again. "The closest thing he's ever had to a girlfriend is his right hand," he mocked degradingly.

"Right, that's it!" Teddy declared. "Out! Both of you!" He grabbed Gordie and Chris by their collars and led them back out his front door. "OUT!" He left them on his porch, and slammed his door behind him.

"That was weird," Gordie stated the obvious. Their strange day had just gotten even stranger.

Chris looked at the pizza box in Gordie's hands. "We can't eat that on our own."

Together, Gordie and Chris thought of the only person who could answer that call to arms. And so, they headed further down the street to the home of Vernon Tessio.

* * *

"I'll get it!" Vern Tessio shouted as he made his way hurriedly down the staircase to where someone was knocking on his door. He was out of breath by the time he reached the bottom.

"Whatever," Billy shouted back from upstairs. "Just get them out of here, whoever they are!"

Vern swung the door open, ready to turn away whoever was disturbing him. To his pleasant surprise, however, it was Gordie and Chris on his front doorstep. "Gordie! Chris! Hey!"

"Hey, Vern," Gordie greeted Vern with a friendly smile. "We brought pizza!"

Vern panicked. These two simply _couldn't_ be here right now. "That's great and all, but-"

"Unfortunately, Chris really screwed up. He got us ham and pineapple!" Gordie complained.

"Yuck!" Vern cried with a sickly, disgusted voice. "I _hate_ ham and pineapple," he whined. "Who eats fruit and pizza anyway?" He asked, causing Gordie to give Chris a smug look. "Listen, you guys, I'd love to catch up over pizza, even if it is my seconds least favourite kind, but I'm kind of in the middle of something right now. You guys are gonna have to go. _Now_."

"Whoa, Vern." Gordie was surprised by how offensive Vern was acting, as though he didn't want them there at all. "We just wanted to hang out for a couple of hours."

"Well, I'm sorry," Vern apologised sincerely. "I'm afraid it's gonna have to be another time."

"What's going on, Verno?" Chris asked with suspicion. Something wasn't right.

"Nothing!" Verno tied to assure them. "Nothing at all! I just need you guys out of here!"

"Vern!" Billy called from upstairs. "What's going on down there? We need you up here!"

Chris heard the voice too. He looked at Vern, and saw how scared his friend was. Something was bothering him, and he wasn't going to leave until he found out what. He bolted upstairs.

"Chris!" Vern shouted after Chris as he disappeared upstairs faster than lightning. "Stop!"

Chris made his way through the maze that was the Tessio house. He ran through one door, round another corner, and through another, following the voices he was sure he could hear, until he came to a cold, dark and damp room where Chris saw Billy Tessio stood with a lit cigarette, almost completely engulfed by the room's darkness. "Shit," Billy cursed.

"Well, look who it is," another voice said, and Chris recognised it instantly. From the shadows emerged Ace Merrill. "If it isn't the Chambers kid," he said with the smile of a killer.

**We're nearing the end guys! There are only four chapters left. You know the drill, the next will go up as soon as you guys leave some REVIEWS. Thanks for reading!**

**-George**


	13. Chapter 12: Bullies and Bedtime Stories

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Chapter Twelve: Bullies, Betrayal and Bedtime Stories

"Oh shit," Gordie cursed when he saw Ace Merrill, his face half-hidden by the shadows. He had turned a pale colour, and his jaw was covered in thick, wild hair that smothered his face and made Ace look like a monster straight out of one of Gordie's favourite comic books.

As soon as he recognised the face of his brother's killer, Chris charged at Ace Merrill in a furious rage, and had thrown his fist to his face before Gordie had any chance to stop him. Chris' fist came soaring to meet Ace's jaw, where it shattered his teeth and rattled his bones. Ace, who had not seen the attack coming, and quite understandably so, was sent straight to the ground. His fall lifted a thick layer of dust from the dirty wooden floor, creating a tornado of dust and grime. Ace spat out a few teeth, along with a mouthful of blood, and smiled at Chris. The smile was only made to look even more sinister and insidious by the cracks and gaps in Ace's devilish grin where he was missing a couple of teeth. He wiped the blood away.

"Not bad," Ace congratulated Chris with the same patronising tone he had become so used to, "for a faggot, that is." He laughed, and spat another mouthful of blood at Chris' feet.

Billy Tessio had already wrestled Chris to the ground by the time Ace was up and back on both feet. He pressed his head against the stiff wooden floor and locked his arms behind his back. For a moment, Chris feared he might be forced to lick up every last drop of Ace's blood.

"You shouldn't have come here," Billy told Chris in a harsh and brutal voice, even though he genuinely regretted what had happened here. Enough innocent people had already been hurt. Now, Chris and Gordie had become simply another loose end that needed to be tied.

Though he was seeing the room from a whole new angle, and Billy Tessio's boot felt as though it was slowly crushing his skull as he kept him on the floor, Chris was able to spot the black duffel bag he'd filled with Ace's money not long before his brother's murder. The money that had started all this. The money that had made Chris dream of a brighter future and a better life outside of Castle Rock. That dream, however, had died with his brother.

"Let him up," Ace urged Billy, who then pulled Chris up off the wooden floor. Ace then picked up the duffel bag full of money. "You took this money, didn't you?" He spat blood again.

Chris nodded nervously. His eyes were glistening with hate for Ace Merrill, his brother's killer.

"And your brother died," Ace said emotionlessly, "because you let him take the blame."

"No," Chris denied bluntly. "My brother died because you went over to his house and shot him through the heart," he told Ace stubbornly. "You were his friend, Ace. And you murdered him," Chris said, his eyes welling with tears. "And now, you're going to kill me too?"

Ace stared at Chris for a long time. "No," he eventually said. "I'm not going to kill you," he told Chris. "But if you tell _anyone_ that I'm here, you'll sure as shit wish you were dead."

Chris gulped. Ace Merrill's cold, sinister eyes still watched his every move. "I know," he said.

"Wait, Ace, we can't let them go!" Billy claimed. "They know you're here!" He reminded Ace.

"What do you want me to do, Billy? Shoot a couple of kids?" Ace asked him sarcastically.

Billy took a deep breath. "Eyeball was just a kid," he let Ace know. The whole room fell silent.

"What?" Ace asked Billy with a whisper that sent a cold shiver down Chris' spine. He was sure that Ace was seconds from snapping Billy's neck. "What did you say?" Ace asked Billy again.

"You heard me," Billy told Ace without fear. Ace was inches from Billy. Close enough to wring his arms around his little, fragile neck and kill him there and then for daring to question him.

Instead, however, Ace simply sighed. He knew that what Billy had said was true. Eyeball _had_ just been a kid, but there was nothing Ace could do about that now. "Get out of here," Ace said, although Chris couldn't have been sure whether he was talking to him and Gordie, who were both frozen with fear at this point, or Billy, who had finally found the courage to stand up to Ace and say what he needed to hear. He was a killer, through and through.

"I SAID GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!" Ace then screamed at all four of them. Gordie, Chris and Vern all picked themselves up and darted out of the room as fast as possible.

Billy, however, turned back to look at Ace before leaving him. It was a look of pity he gave Ace, whom he'd once considered his friend. "I don't know what happened to my friend. But I hope he's still in there somewhere," Billy told him, before leaving Ace to his thoughts, isolated in that dark, damp prison cell of a room, and shutting the door behind him.

"What do we do now?" Vern asked Chris and Gordie having become hopelessly lost.

"Isn't it obvious?" Gordie asked them both. Apparently, it wasn't. He looked at Chris. "We have your brother's murderer right here! It's time we went to the police," he told him.

Chris was silent. Instead, Vern barged in. "Oh no! No police!" He assured Gordie. "If they find Ace here, they'll know we were hiding him. Me and my brother could go to jail!" Vern fret.

"The only person here who's going to jail is Ace Merrill," Gordie assured them.

Vern still wasn't convinced. He remembered his brother was with them, and turned to look at him. But Billy, who stared blankly at the wall, seemed to have something else on his mind.

"My brother wouldn't let that happen," Vern said with certainty. "Ace is his best friend."

That seemed to get Billy's attention, as he quickly turned to face the three boys. "You're right, I _wouldn't_ betray a friend like that," Billy explained. "But the man behind that door," Billy went on, nodding towards the door, "he's not the friend I knew. The friend I knew is gone, and he's not coming back." Billy sighed. He began to walk down the corridor, a cigarette in his mouth, as the wooden floorboard creaked under each one of his steps.

"Where are you going?" Gordie asked Billy, desperate for help.

Billy turned to look at the boys one last time. "I'm getting out of this town, like I should have done a long time ago," he explained regretfully. He then looked at Chris and him alone. "I'm sorry about your brother, Chris." Billy Tessio then swung his jacket over his shoulder and disappeared down the corridor. He wasn't seen around Castle Rock again for a whole year.

Gordie turned back to Vern. "Look," he said, "we're in way over our heads here. We have to let the police take things from here," he said regretfully. He only wished they'd have done so sooner. Perhaps then, Chris would still have a brother. Gordie would never forgive himself.

But Chris still disagreed. "No," he argued. "We're not just gonna hand him over to the police so that he can rot in a prison cell for the rest of his life," Chris decided. That was when Gordie saw something in Chris' eyes that he didn't recognise. He saw hate. "He's not getting off that easy," Chris said maliciously.

* * *

An argument had ensued over how to deal with the situation surrounding Ace Merrill and the drug money. Gordie had wisely suggested that they go to the police, as he'd said from the beginning, and hand Ace over for Eyeball's murder. Vern, however, didn't want him or his brother to get into trouble for hiding Ace to start with. But it was Chris who concerned Gordie the most. It appeared what Chris wanted more than anything was revenge. Gordie had decided to sit on this until they could come to some kind of agreement.

"Are you sure Vern will be okay watching Ace? You sure Vern's safe?" Gordie asked Chris, concerned for his friend's safety. "I don't want anybody else getting hurt," he told him.

"Ace has got nowhere to run," Chris reminded Gordie. "He's got nowhere else to go. He's not gonna move from Vern's house, I'm sure of it," he reassured Gordie. "Besides, if he _does_ decide to go after anyone, it'll be me," Chris assured him with certainty.

"Which is why we should go to the police," Gordie told Chris again. "We have to, Chris. It's only a matter of time before he does something stupid like try to hurt you."

"I'm not afraid, Gordie," Chris told him. But that didn't reassure Gordie whatsoever.

"I am," Gordie confessed. "I'm afraid of what you're going to do." Chris dodged Gordie's eyes. He was hiding something. "What _are_ you going to do?" He was almost afraid to know.

"You know what," Chris said. It was true. Gordie knew. He could only hope that he could stop Chris before he did anything he'd soon regret. "I'm going to do what I have to," Chris explained with a pained expression. "Ace Merrill has to pay for what he did." Chris then stopped Gordie in his track by putting a hand on his chest. "When that's done, I'm taking back my money, and we're getting out of this town, just like Billy told us to," Chris decided.

"Chris, I…" Gordie struggled. "I can't," he admitted. "I can't keep running away. I have to go home," he explained. It was time, he had decided.

"Home?" Chris asked with disbelief. "But you're folks kicked you out! They don't want you," Chris told Gordie, being brutally honest. "But I do," he said. "I _need_ you, Gordie."

"I'm sorry, Chris," Gordie apologised. "They're my parents. I can't just turn my back on them," Gordie explained. "I have to go," he said. He buried his hands in his pockets and kissed Chris lightly on the cheek before turning away to walk down the street back home.

"Wait! Gordie!" Chris shouted after him, and Gordie turned to hear him out. "You're not… breaking up with me… are you?" He asked in fear of losing Gordie.

"I'd have to be the biggest fool in the world to do that," Gordie said with a smile over his shoulder. "Goodnight, Chris."

* * *

Gordie returned home to find his front door unlocked, as though his parents had been waiting all week for their son to return home. He crept inside and up the staircase without so much as a peep. He shut his bedroom door and climbed into bed silently. But somehow, his father had still heard him. Remembering the last conversation he'd had with his father before he'd left home, Gordie already knew how painful this was going to be for both of them.

He heard his door squeak as his father slowly pushed it open, the light from outside slowly filling his bedroom as he did so. "Gordon?" His father called with a whisper. "Are you awake, son?" He asked as he slowly approached his bed. He took a seat beside Gordie, who pretended to be fast asleep. An act his father saw straight through. "I know you can hear me, Gordo. You don't have to talk, but I want you to listen to me, son." And Gordie did so.

"I know things have been hard for you since Denny died. It hasn't been easy for anyone, really. And I know there are some things going on with you right now, and that you need your Mom and Dad. I want you to know that we're always here for you, no matter what." For a moment, Gordie was surprised. Was that it? Had his father finally accepted him for what he was? He stayed silent, and continued to listen. "But, frankly, with Denny gone you have some great responsibilities. It's up to you to keep the Lachance name one that people look up to and respect. We want you go do as best as you can in school so that you can find yourself a good job, one that you'll enjoy and that'll provide for your family."

Gordie wanted so much to interrupt, but he knew how much this speech meant to his father.

"These next few months are going to be difficult, but we'll find the money to send you to a great school, one that's far away from here, so that you can finally get some space to think about what you want to do with your life. You're going to meet some great new people. And who knows? You might even find yourself a girlfriend," his father suggested with a smile. "I'll let you sleep now, son. But carefully think about what I said."

As soon as he heard his father shut the door behind him, Gordie let the tears flow. As he wept, he thought about the idea of leaving Chris, Teddy, Vern and everyone he knew in Castle Rock behind. He'd never wanted to much to stay. Sure, he wanted to succeed. He wanted a good job and a great life. But, to Gordie, none if it mattered if it meant being away from Chris. Gordie Lachance realised then just how much he loved Chris Chambers, and he decided that he needed to know. So, Gordie jumped out of bed and, as soon as he was dressed, fled his home to find Chris.

**THERE ARE ONLY THREE CHAPTERS LEFT! Hope you guys are still enjoying this fan-fiction! I'm currently working on the final chapters, and some REVIEWS would go a long way right now, so some feedback would be great!**

**Take care,**

**-George**


	14. Chapter 13: Lying in a Bed of Lilies

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Chapter Thirteen: Lying In A Bed of Lilies Under the Stars

Well, I love, love, you darlin'

Come and go with me

Come home with me

Baby I'm to see

I need you, darlin'

So come go with me

* * *

Gordie Lachance found himself dashing down Chris' street, the wind blowing in his face, leaving everything behind and ignoring the voices in his head that argued this wasn't a good idea. As loud as those voices were, Gordie ignored them. He knew now that he should have listened to Chris from the beginning. Maybe if they'd left Castle Rock sooner, none of this would have happened. Eyeball would still be alive, and Gordie and Chris could have left their home without looking back instead of having to carry the guilt of tearing the town apart.

He found Chris dawdling glumly along the path to his front door, a miserable look plastered across his tired face. Gordie heart leapt excitedly when he saw him. Noticing Chris had not yet seen him, Gordie had an idea. He dashed to the fence that surrounded Chris' home like a prison and gallantly leapt over the white pickets with skill he never knew he had. Instead of landing in front of him and sweeping him off his feet romantically, an idea Gordie now realised was absurd, Gordie crashed into Chris, knocking him off his feet and sending them both rolling across his lawn like character out of the _Looney Tunes_, until they landed side by side in his flowerbed. Incredibly, Gordie's plan had worked, just not in the way he'd intended. What could be more romantic than lying in a flower bed looking up at the beautiful night sky?

For a short time, Chris had thought he was being mugged. It wasn't until he looked beside him, as he laid in the bed of lilies, that he saw the identity of the prowler in the night.

"Gordie?" Chris asked as Gordie stargazed gormlessly, a wide grin plastered across his face.

"Um… Hey," Gordie replied as he gazed wondrously as the stars above him. "Sorry about that," he apologised. "I… I was trying to be romantic," he admitted embarrassedly.

"Well, you did a fine job, Lachance," Chris said as he joined him in admiring the night sky.

"They're beautiful aren't they? The stars?" Gordie asked Chris randomly. He sounded as though he'd been smoking some of his weed. Again. "I mean, there they were staring me in the face my entire life. But, I guess I just never saw how pretty they really are until now." Chris thought about what he'd just heard. Was Gordie still talking about the stars? Finally, Gordie stopped stargazing and turned to face Chris. "I'm coming with you, Chris."

"What?" Chris knew what Gordie meant, but where had it come from? What had changed?

"Wherever you go. Whatever you do. I want to be there with you. By your side," Gordie said.

Chris' eyes widened, his heart beat furiously in his chest. He felt as though he'd been waiting his entire life to hear this. Now that is was finally here, Chris almost wanted to pinch himself, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "You really mean that?" Chris asked, ready to cry.

"I know it took me forever to see it, even though you were right there the whole time, and I'm sorry, but I _need_ you, Chris! I don't know what I'd do without you! I'd be lost…" Gordie admitted, his eyes welling with tears. "I love you, Chris." And Gordie began to cry.

"I love you too, Gordie," Chris told him as he wiped hot tears from Gordie cheeks.

For the longest time, the two boys stared deep into each other's eyes, still laying on their sides in that same flower bed under a million glimmering stars. It was Chris who finally made the move and leaned in to kiss Gordie softly on the lips. Gordie soon opened his lips, allowing Chris to slide his tongue into his mouth and massage Gordie's. The boys wrapped their arms around each other, refusing to let each other go. Gordie rolled onto his back as Chris climbed on top of him. He slid his hand up Gordie's silk, striped shirt as he continued to kiss him on the lips, dipping to kiss him on the neck every so often. Gordie continued to kiss Chris back. As desperate as he was for that moment in the flowerbed never to end, Gordie knew he had to go. The next few hours, days and maybe even weeks were going to be a wild ride, and he would need to be able to keep his eyes open if he was going to see this through.

Gordie began to slowly and gently push Chris off him. "Not now," he said. "You parents…"

"…Are right inside," Chris finished. He removed his hand from underneath Gordie's shirt. "You're right. I better go," Chris decided as he got back on his feet and dusted himself off.

"Yeah. Me too," Gordie said as he did the same. He peeled a crushed lily off his back.

The two boys shared one final kiss before strolling across the lawn, paying the family of lily they had just crushed no heed. Chris climbed his porch as Gordie headed towards the gate.

"Gordie," Chris said as he turned back to face Gordie. "You know Ace still had the money, don't you?" He asked, and Gordie nodded. "And you know I have to get it back?" Gordie nodded again. "I'll swing by in a couple of hours. I'm gonna need my gun," he explained.

"Chris…" Gordie began, "…are you sure there's no other way?" He asked regretfully.

Chris shook his head. "I'm sure," he said certainly. "You just have to be ready," he advised Gordie. "Because, if we do this, there's no going back," he said firmly through gritted teeth.

"I know," Gordie told him, acting brave for his friend who must have been even more afraid than he was. "Goodnight, Chris." Gordie Lachance took one last glance over his shoulder at Chris, his home and the starry sky above it before turning his back on it all and hurrying home. He wondered if this would be the last time he walked that street.

* * *

As he crept inside, careful not to slam the door behind him, Chris began to think up excuses as to why he had returned home at such an hour. Little did he realise, his parents were too busy to even notice his absence. He skulked across the wooden floor on his tiptoes, creeping through the darkness until he heard voices from the kitchen. And these voices were loud.

"Just stop talking! You've said enough," a deep, disturbing voice roared from the kitchen. It could only be the voice of Chris' father. "He's _my_ son! _I_ know what's best for him!"

He could also hear the tears of him mother, a sound he'd become far too familiar with in these recent days. "He's my son too, Jonathon. Don't you forget that. He's my son too!"

Chris crept closer to the kitchen until the floorboards betrayed him, creaking noisily under his weight with a painful squeal that alerted his parents and gave his presence away.

"Chris?" His mother called out. She came looking for him and found him watching from outside the kitchen, where he stood nervously like a five year old who'd been woken from his sleep by a bad dream and needed his mommy. "Oh, sweetie." Chris' hear sunk into his stomach when he saw his mother's face. The tears had made her makeup run, but that wasn't the worst of it. A large, black and already swollen bruise haunted her right eye.

Chris' blood was already boiling. Immediately, he knew what had happened here. And this hadn't been the first time. He curled his hands into fists so tight that his fingernails dug into his skin. His mother, however, continued to smile as she stood in her pink dressing gown with her arms neatly folded. But Chris saw past her smile. He knew exactly how scared she was, and why. Chris' father stepped in front of her to see his son. He was rubbing the back of his hand, which appeared red and sore. "Chris?" He asked confusedly. "Where have you been?"

Chris breathed in and out slowly as a furious rage slowly started to take over and he began to see red like a bull about to erupt in a frenzy. "You monster," he called his father. His fists were clenched so tightly now, Chris could feel the pain of his fingernails cutting into his skin.

"Your mother and I have been talking, Chris." His father seemed almost regretful as he spoke. Chris always knew he had been a disappointment, but what he didn't know was that his father actually _cared_. He supposed, with his Eyeball gone, it made sense for Jonathan Chambers to start caring about Chris, the only son he had left. "We want you to leave."

Chris was almost shocked. He knew his father was heartless, but this was an all-time low.

His mother stepped forward again. "Chris, please understand-" But his father cut her off when he struck her with the back of his hand, forcing her to the floor a she cried in pain.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Chris roared at his father, sounding almost like him during one of his fits of rage. But he was already too late. His mother began again to cry from the kitchen floor.

Chris then saw the bottle of whiskey in his father's hand. It was empty, and yet, his father still clung onto it for dear life, ad though it was the one thing in his life that he could rely on. "And what are you gonna do, huh?" His father barked at him. " What's my faggot son gonna do!?"

That was when Chris Chambers reached his boiling point. For years, he had been told he wasn't good enough. He had been looked down upon by almost everyone around him. Nobody saw the good in him. Nobody. That was, except, for Gordie Lachance. The boy Chris had always loved. And Gordie loved him too. Gordie was to Chris what whiskey was to his father – the only thing in his life that he could rely on. Chris was proud to have Gordie in his life, and if nobody else could see that, then they could go to hell. Not even Chris' own father could be happy for him. But what had he expected? This was the man who had turned the love of his life into his own personal punching bag. But it was time for this madness to end.

"What are you gonna do, huh? What's my faggot son gonna do!?" The torments played over and over in Chris' head until something inside of him snapped, and when he opened his eyes, he was already swinging his fist in the direction of his father's fat, old, deflated face.

It had happened before Chris even knew it, as though he wasn't in control. Things just played out and Chris felt as though he was watching from above. He did, however, feel the crunch of bone and the tear of flesh as the bridge of his father's nose collapsed under his fist and blood spewed from his open mouth until Chris' father was sent plummeting to the kitchen floor.

Jonathon Chambers landed beside his wife, who still wept as she huddled on the kitchen floor. She shrieked when Jonathan hit the floor beside her. Despite everything he had done to her, Chris' mother still tried to comfort her husband when she saw his injuries. The ones his own son had given to him. She held her husband close to her as he blood oozed from his broken nose and lip. Paired together, the two looked as though they'd just walked out of a bar fight. They looked up at Chris, horrified by the vicious rage he had just unleashed.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Chris asked his father. "We're a family!" He shouted at him. Though he soon realised, his father wasn't the problem. Chris' heart sunk all over again.

He saw the look of terror on his parents' faces as they looked up at the son they hardly recognised. They held each other close, shaking in fear. Although they were scared, more than anything they were shocked. Shocked at the sight of the monster their son had become.

"We're a family…" Chris tried to tell himself. But he knew too well just how wrong he was. He didn't have a family anymore. He had already torn his apart. And they were beyond repair.

His mother continued to cry, and his father consoled her, all whilst Chris stood over them, the cause of all their pain and misery. They hadn't been the same since Eyeball had been murdered, and it was Chris greediness that had caused that to happen in the first place. Chris knew now what he had to do. "Dad…" He tried to reach out to his father, but it was no use.

"Chris," his father began. He'd never seemed more disappointed in his son than he was now. "Just get out of here," he urged him. "Get out of here and don't ever come back."

As much as he despised the man, Chris decided his father was right. He had to go. Besides, after he did what he did what he was about to do, there would be no place for him in Castle Rock anymore.

* * *

The gun was heavy in Chris' hand. "Chris, don't do this," Gordie urged him as he watched Chris grip the pistol tightly in his hands. "There's gotta be some other way," he said certainly.

Chris sighed. He wished there was. But if he had any hope of walking away if that money and living to talk about it, he had to make sure that Ace Merrill wouldn't come after him. He couldn't spend the rest of his days looking over his shoulder. "There isn't," Chris assured him. "This is the only way," he said as he checked the gun's bullet count. He would only need one.

Gordie a nervous wreck, and who could blame him? Enough blood had been spilled already.

"Be ready when I get back," Chris told Gordie as he tucked the pistol into the back of his pants. It's steel was a cold bite on his skin. "We're getting on the first train out of here."

"I will," Gordie told him before biting his lip with worry. "I'll see ya…I guess," he said.

The intense look of fear and anxiety on Chris' face soon transformed into one of amusement as Chris' frown turned upside down and into a smile. "…Not if I see you first," he completed.

Chris stepped closer to Gordie until the boys were inches from each other. Suddenly, Chris pressed his lips to Gordie's. The kiss lasted only a few seconds, but Chris savored every second of it, just in case. He cupped Gordie's cheek and caressed him before stepping back from him and down the steps of his porch. Before he reached Gordie gate, he turned back to him and waved, looking back at Gordie and his home for a few long seconds. The night sky behind only added to its beauty. Wherever he and Gordie went, he hoped they would live somewhere where, every night, they would have a beautiful starry sky to look up at. And every time he did, Chris would think of _this_ night. Not of the fight with his father, or his confrontation with Ace Merrill, but of that moment he had shared with Gordie in the flowerbed. The moment he'd wished would never end. The moment he decided he wanted to be with Gordie Lachance for the rest of his life. He turned from Gordie and disappeared down the street. He had never been a religious boy, but at that moment Chris prayed with all his might that he would see Gordie again.

**THERE ARE ONLY TWO CHAPTERS LEFT! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter update. This one took a lot of time, and I'm quite proud of it, so please leave a REVIEW below leaving any and all feedback you might have! I'm currently working on the final two chapters, which I can't wait to share, so they should be up next week. In the meantime, some more REVIEWS would be great!**

**(UPDATE: Chapter 14 should be up this weekend!)**

**Take care,**

**-George**


	15. Chapter 14: Flying too Close to the Sun

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Chapter Fourteen: Flying too Close to the Sun

Love, love me darlin'

Come and go with me

Please don't send me

'way beyond the sea

I need you, darlin'

So come go with me

* * *

"Okay," Teddy Duchamp said as he shuffled the stack of cards with skill unlike Vern Tessio had ever been witness to. "So, you know how to play?" Teddy asked Vern as he began to deal the cards. Even as simple a task as this he did with superb skill, dealing at lightning speed.

"Um…" Vern rubbed his chin, struggling to remember the rules. "No," he replied honestly.

Teddy had already assumed so. "What about you?" He asked Lindsay, who also sat around the table in a wooden chair, holding her cards close to her chest. "Do _you _know the rules?"

But Lindsay shrugged hopelessly. She had never even heard of this card game before.

Teddy sighed. "Fine," he said begrudgingly, unhappy that so few knew how to play this game he had so creatively invented. "So the aim of the game is to get rid of all your cards," he explained. He gestured with his hands enthusiastically as he continued to explain the rules. Playing cards had been one of the only things Vern had ever seen Teddy take such an interest in. That and drinking, anyway. "…And tens go over anything and clear the deck," he clarified.

Vern raised his hand before asking a question, as though he was back in high school, questioning his teacher at every turn. "Are aces high or low?" He asked, to which Teddy replied by explaining that they go both ways. "Okay," Vern said, "I think I've got it."

"Yeah, me too," Lindsay agreed happily, and Teddy looked proud. Whether it was himself or his two new players that he was proud of, Vern could not be sure.

"Cool," Teddy said with a smile. "Alright, let's play!" Teddy decided with more enthusiasm than Vern's ears were used to.

They had been playing for almost a half hour when Vern was bust, and forced to pick up a tall stack of cards. He had just been on a lucky streak too. "Dammit!" He cried with annoyance.

"Sorry, man!" Teddy apologised with a cheeky smile that suggested he wasn't sincere. "Looks like you flew too close to the sun, my friend," he told Vern as he laid down his final card.

Teddy had just won the game. Before he could celebrate, however, his door swung open, letting in the violent sounds of the storm outside. Teddy saw a figure stood in his doorway.

"Teddy, Vern, Lindsay!" Gordie named them all. It appeared he was happy to see them. "Guys, I need your help," he explained with urgency, his clothes and hair dripping wet.

Teddy stood up from his seat. "Christ, Gordie, would it kill ya to knock?" He asked having been startled by Gordie's sudden entrance and the storm that continued to thrash outside.

"It's Chris," Gordie said, as though it was all he needed to say. Teddy stepped forward.

"What happened, Gordie?" Teddy asked, now seriously concerned for his friend.

"He…" Gordie struggled. He wondered how things had gotten this way. How did everything get so screwed up? "He's gone after Ace Merrill," he explained. "And he's got a gun."

* * *

The gun was heavy in Chris' hand as he paced down the street, approaching the house where his brother's killer hid cowardly in the shadows. The gun had belonged to his father, whose blood now stained Chris' shirt. Now, however, the rain began to fall. A storm was approaching. And as the first light drops of rain fell, his father's blood began to wash away. The rain washed the blood, some belonging to his father, the rest his own, from his shirt, face and arms and it was swept down into the drains. The blood on his hands, however, would stay with him forever. And there was a lot of blood on Chris' hands.

Chris crossed Vern Tessio's front lawn, the grass moist and muddy under his feet. His grip was tight on the pistol, knowing how close Ace Merrill was. He didn't know what he would say, if anything, when he found him again. When he was looking back in his grey, evil eyes. He only knew that, after today, he would never see Ace Merrill again.

He was at the front door now. This was his last chance to turn back. On Vern's doorstep, Chris took one last glance behind him, at the wet street filled with happy, peaceful, tranquil lives that were completely and utterly oblivious to the destruction and devastation that had been caused and felt by Chris in these past few days.

In one of those houses, his friends played cards, drank beer, laughed, cried and reminisced about days gone by. In another, further down the street, Gordie Lachance would likely be pacing up and down his living room, fearing for Chris' safety, and hoping against hope that he would see him again. Hopefully, he would have a suitcase packed and ready for when Chris returned so that, when he had the money, and Ace was no longer an issue, they would both be ready to leave. Together. Even further down the long and winding street, Mr. and Mrs. Chambers would be together, arguing over how best to approach the situation surrounding their only (living) son, who was in a heap of trouble, unaware that in less that twelve hours, he would be out of the state.

Chris turned his back on the street. Everyone there, after all, had let him down. All except for one boy. And that boy, Chris had decided, he was going to spend the rest of his life with. He turned the knob and let himself inside, his grip still tight around the pistol.

The house was completely engulfed in darkness. Chris searched blindly with his hands for a light, and eventually found a switch which he flicked, allowing for a small lightbulb above his head to flicked alight, as though Chris had just come up with an ingenious idea. But Chris had never been one for good ideas, which was exactly why he had ended up here, with his father's gun in his hand, about to put an end to the series of disasters that had become his life.

Chris still remembered the day he had first stolen the gun he now held in his hands from his pathetic, drunken excuse for a father. He had shown it to Gordie, who was taken aback by the mere sight of the instrument. He had then pulled the trigger. Unaware that the gun was even loaded, the sound of the gunshot had made the two boys scream and shout as they ran all the way home, side by side. They had stuck together, no matter what. And they planned to until the very end. Since then, Gordie had held onto the gun. They had never spoken of it since Gordie had used it to scare off Ace and his gang of misfits, and it had been locked away in one of Gordie cabinets, inside one of his shoeboxes, never to be taken out again. Until now. Now, Chris needed it again. Only this time, it wasn't just to scare Ace Merrill off. This time, Chris wouldn't let him run away.

After a moment of nostalgia as he relived the memory of their trip along the railroad, Chris headed upstairs to face the monster in the attic, his gun at his hip. He gulped when he heard the monster's snores. He checked his pistol's bullet count, and entered its lair.

* * *

Around a final corner, Chris found the door to the room where Ace Merrill still cowered in the shadows. The floorboards creaked under Chris with every step he took, warning Ace of his presence. The pistol at his hip, Chris took a deep breath before pushing the wooden door open. Like everything in that house, it creaked as it moved. Chris could feel his heart vibrating in his chest. The anticipation was killing him. When the door was finally wide open, and the creaking finally ceased, Chris could see the room in its entirety. Ace was nowhere to be seen. Or so it seemed. Chris searched the walls with his fingertips for a light switch. He found it and flicked it on. The lights flickered on and off like firecrackers until they finally flashed to life and stayed that way, revealing a shape in the corner of the room. Ace huddled against the wall, wrapped in an old and dirty sleeping bag that Vern must have given him to him out of pity. Chris, however, knew better than to show the monster any kind of pity.

He approached Ace slowly, the floorboards still squeaking and creaking with every step. Ace continued to snore, the sounds echoing through the room and the entire house. Chris stopped, raised his pistol, holding it with both hands, and pulled back the hammer. The pistol clicked loudly when he released the hammer, waking Ace Merrill from a deep sleep.

Chris watched down the sight of the pistol as a tired Ace rubbed his eyes. As soon as he saw the gun in Chris' hands, however, Ace's eyes widened. He was wide awake, now. Immediately, he knew what was happening. "Chris," he said gently as he began to stand up, "I don't know what you think you're doing here, and I know you've had a pretty time these past few days, but this isn't gonna solve any of your problems," he assured him.

"Stop," Chris told him firmly. "Sit back down," he ordered Ace. But Ace didn't move. Not until he saw the glint of rage in Chris' eye. A glint Ace recognised all too well. "Sit. Down," Chris repeated through gritted teeth, more viciously then before. This time, Ace listened.

"What are you doing, Chris?" Ace asked confusedly, struggling to understand the kid's plan, if he even had one. He then looked over to the duffel bag filled with money in the corner of the room. He looked back at Chris, whom it appeared had taken in interest in that same duffel bag. "You're here for the money? Is that it?" Ace asked, knowing the answer. It had been about the money from the beginning. The money had gotten Eyeball killed, and it was about to do the same to him. "Take it!" He urged Chris. "Take your damn money, and go!"

Chris kept his gun carefully aimed at Ace as he crossed the room, picked up the duffel bag, and returned. He opened the duffel bag. The money was all there, as far as Chris could tell.

"Okay," Ace said, his back still to the wall, "you've got your money." He watched Chris search through the duffel bag, as if he could possibly count that money dollar bills. "Now, get out of here," he urged Chris, who then closed the duffel bag and looked back at Ace.

"It's not that simple, Ace," he said as he raised his pistol again. "Believe me, I wish it was."

"Dammit, Chris!" Ace shouted, ignoring how careful he should have been not to scare Chris, who had a gun pointed right at him. "Hasn't there been enough bloodshed already!?" He shook his head at Chris' stupidity. "What, are you gonna shoot the rest of my boys too?"

"No, Ace," Chris denied, staring at Ace down the barrel of his father's gun. "Just you."

Ace laughed quietly. The kid had balls, he couldn't deny that. "You've got enough money in that bag for you and your boyfriend to completely disappear," he assured Chris. "No one's coming after you." But Chris wasn't buying it. He tightened his grip on the pistol. Ace laughed quietly again. "Is this about your brother?" Ace asked him. "Is this about Eyeball?"

"RICHARD!" Chris screamed at Ace as he stood over him. "His name was Richard Chambers, and he was my brother!" He shouted as he approached Ace close enough to press the barrel of his pistol to his skull. The bite of the steel was cold on Ace's skin. "He was my brother, an you killed him!" Chris cried furiously at Ace, who appeared unafraid by the gun at his head.

Chris' eyes began to well up with tears, but he refused to let himself cry. Not now. "Admit it!" He shouted at Ace. He needed to hear this before he pulled that trigger, but Ace was silent.

Finally, Ace looked up at Chris. "No," Ace said coldly. "_You_ killed that boy, Chris," he told him, and Chris' heart sunk. "You know it, and I know it. Richard died because of you."

It was true. It was his greed that had gotten his brother killed. And now, it was his anger that was about to get another person killed. But Chris was filled with too much rage to see what was so clearly right in front of him. He whipped Ace in the nose with the butt of his pistol, breaking Ace's nose with a brutal CRUNCH, and spewing blood across his face.

Ace's cries of pain must have masked the loud sound of footsteps coming from downstairs as two, three or maybe even more people made their way up the house's old, rickety staircase.

"Fuck you," Chris cursed at Ace, his gun still pointed at his head, ready to fire. "I…" He felt a tear fall down his cheek. "I did it for him," he told Ace. "For us. To protect us."

"The Lachance kid?" Ace asked. He laughed again. It's funny how things work out. "Do you love him?" Ace asked, unsure he understood all of this. He was what this was all about?

"More than anything," Chris replied, another tear strolling down his face.

"Well," Ace said, gazing down the barrel of Chris' gun. "I hope he's worth it."

"CHRIS!" A voice shouted from behind Chris. It was a voice he recognised immediately.

"Gordie?" He asked. What was he doing here? He saw the Gordie stood in the doorway, Teddy, Lindsay and Vern all by his side. "What's going on? What are you doing here?"

"Chris.." Gordie stepped forward. "Don't do this," he urged him. "Please," Gordie begged.

"I'm sorry, Gordie," Chris apologised. "I have to."

"No, you don't, Chris!" Gordie assure him. "There are other ways! Ace doesn't have to die!"

"I know," Chris replied, confusing Gordie. "But I _want_ him to," he told him with vengeful eyes.

**CONCLUDES IN CHAPTER FIFTHTEEN.**

* * *

**THERE IS ONLY ONE CHAPTER LEFT! Hope you guys all enjoyed the penultimate chapter of Come Go With Me. Really glad to see some feedback for these final chapters, so please keep them coming! Some REVIEWS for this chapter would be great and would go a long way to helping me as I try to get my head down and put my all into writing this final chapter. Apologies, by the way, for the lateness of this chapter! The final chapter should be up by the end of the week (fingers crossed)!**

**Take care and see you all later this week for the final chapter!**

**-George**


	16. Chapter 15: A Happily Ever After

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Chapter Fifteen: Searching for a Happily Ever After

"I'm never gonna get out of this town, am I Gordie?" Chris asked his friend as the two boys continued to admire the sight of their hometown, Castle Rock, as the sun began to disappear behind the white clouds guarding the beautiful bright, blue sky.

Gordie turned to his Chris, who had a smile on his face. Chris had always been able to laugh in the face of adversity, but he was wrong this time. "You can do anything you want, man," Gordie told him. And it was true. Chris was exceptionally talented. He just didn't know it.

Chris laughed. "Yeah," he said sarcastically, "sure." He turned to face Gordie, who had been his best friend his entire life, and stood by him even to this day. He smiled.

Gordie smiled back at Chris. He wondered where life would take his friend, Chris. He always thought he would find a pretty girl, get married, have a couple of kids and raise them someplace far from here. As much as Gordie never wanted to let Chris go, he knew he had a whole live out there to live. A part of him even wished that they could do it together.

"Hey," Chris said to Gordie, waking him up from his daydreaming. "Gimme some skin," he told him as he held out his hand to Gordie, awaiting him to complete their sacred ritual.

Gordie, never taking his eyes off Chris as he did so, gave him his hand, and they rubbed their palms together gently until their hands slid off each other.

"I'll see ya," Gordie promised Chris, a promise he would be sure to keep.

"Not if I see you first," Chris said flirtatiously with a smile and a raised eyebrow before turning around and beginning to make his way home, his sleeping bag slung over his shoulder.

Gordie laughed through a beaming smile as he watched Chris walk away. Before disappearing beyond the sand, bushes and trees, he turned and waved at Gordie. And Gordie waved back.

* * *

It was two years later, and Gordie was watching helplessly as his friend Chris Chambers held a gun someone else's head. That someone was Ace Merrill, a thug that had bullied the two boys throughout their entire lives. But even so, Gordie knew he didn't deserve to die as much as his brother Denny, or Chris' brother Eyeball. Chris however, had changed, so much so that, when he saw those vengeful, hateful eyes looking back at him, Gordie hardly recognised the boy he had come to love. He knew then that he couldn't let this happen.

"Let's all just calm down!" Teddy Duchamp urged from beside Gordie as he held his arm over Lindsay in comfort. "Chris," he said, speaking only to him now. "You're making a huge mistake," he told him. Teddy Duchamp knew a thing or two about mistakes.

"No," Chris replied. He was so nervous, Gordie could see, that his hands were shaking, making the pistol rattle in his trembling grip. At this point, it could easily have gone off by accident. All Chris had to do was make one wrong movement. "My only mistake was not putting a bullet between this piece of shit's eyes the first time I got the chance!"

"Chris, please!" Gordie heard Vern's voice shout out. "Do this, and you'll go to jail for the rest of your life!" He assured him. "Think about your parents," he told him. "Think about _us_." Chris appeared confused. "What are we supposed to do without our leader?" Vern asked.

"I don't…" Chris began, but something hit him. "You think _I'm_ the leader?" He asked Vern.

All four of them nodded in agreement, even Lindsay, who had only met Chris twice.

Chris turned from his friends to look back at Ace Merrill, whose nose was dripping with blood. He still gave Chris a demented, mocking smirk, even now with his nose broken, a couple of teeth missing and pistol pointed at his head. Chris turned to his friends. "Then, as your leader, I'm telling you all to get out of here," Chris ordered them with deadly seriousness.

"Chris, we're trying to help you!" Teddy reminded Chris, still struggling to get through to him.

"I don't want your help!" Chris shouted aggressively. "I have to do this on my own!"

This was not the sweet, kind, gentle boy Gordie had fallen in love with. Chris had changed. But Gordie, too, could remember the whole different person he'd become after _his_ brother had died. He knew Chris shouldn't have been seeking revenge. There had already been enough bloodshed, after all. All he needed was a friend; one to stand by him wherever he went and whatever he went on to do. Gordie knew then that _he_ could be that friend.

Gordie stepped forward. "Chris," he said calmly as he took slow steps towards Chris. Chris turned to Gordie, the gun still rattling in his nervous hand. "There's something you need to hear," he told him as he slowly approached, trying not to look at the loaded gun in his hand.

"Gordie, please," Chris begged, his eyes now welling up with tears. "Please, just go!"

Gordie stopped, now. standing mere inches from Chris. "Let me make one thing clear, Chris," he said, "I love you." He took a deep breath. "I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. Maybe it's because, between losing my brother and my parents seeing right through me, no one else has ever really loved me back. Or maybe it's just because you _are_ the cutest, sweetest, kindest boy I've ever met and ever will meet." He saw a tear begin to roll down Chris' cheek. "But, whatever happens, I'll _always _love you, because I know you'll always love me too." Chris didn't even need to say it, they both knew he was right. "But I don't want to have to spend the rest of my days hopelessly in love with someone who's never even going to see the outside of a jail cell," he told Chris. "I don't _want_ to," he repeated, "but I would." Gordie himself was beginning to tear up. "I'd wait for you because I know you'd wait for me. So, whatever happens, you know I'll always be here, stood by your side," he told Chris as he took his hand. "It's your decision, Chris," he said. " Just, please, make the right one."

Chris stared into Gordie's eyes, and eventually began to nod. "Okay, Gordie," he said before taking one last look at Ace Merrill, and handing his father's pistol back to Gordie.

"Thank you, Chris," Gordie said before cupping Chris' soft cheek with his hand, and kissing him firmly on the lips. Chris lovingly wrapped his arms around Gordie, both their faces still wet with tears. But they weren't the only ones who had been a little more than moved.

Teddy smiled, happy to see his two friends together again. Chris was back, he could see that now, and the monster Ace Merrill had almost turned him into had been chased off by Gordie. Vern also stood there looking mighty pleased. This mean that, finally, things could go back to the way they were. "Good for them," Teddy said with his arms folded. "Yeah," Vern agreed, his hands stuffed lazily in his pockets. When he heard crying that wasn't Gordie's or Chris', he looked over to see Lindsay, still in Teddy's arms, wiping her tearful eyes with a handkerchief.

"They're just so cute!" Lindsay said between sniffles as she continued to cry tears of joy.

Chris and Gordie finally pulled themselves off each other, and began to laugh at Lindsay, who had become an emotional wreck. When she had dried her eyes, her, Teddy, and Vern joined Chris and Gordie by their side as they stood over and looked down at Ace Merrill.

"So," Gordie said in a curios tone. "What _do_ we do with you?" He wondered aloud.

* * *

The police officer resembled Gordie's father. He had the same square-shaped jaw and crooked nose his father had. The police officer, however, had grown a big, bushy moustache abode his upper lip. He was also a lot friendlier than Gordie's father had ever been.

"So, you say Mr. Merrill was dealing drugs?" The cop asked Gordie, who had bravely and wisely called the police and was now responsible for answering the many questions he knew they would have. Gordie was prepared. He just hoped they didn't ask about Chris.

"That's right, sir," Gordie replied politely. "And we have the money to prove it," he told him.

Gordie watched the cop scratch something onto his notebook with a pencil as the sirens on his car behind him continued to flash silently, alerting the entire neighborhood of his presence. At the mention of the word money, the cop's eyebrows had raised.

"And where is this money now?" The cop asked curiously as, behind him, neighbors began to leave their homes and gather outside Vern's home, wondering what had just transpired at the Tessio residence.

"It's all inside," Gordie explained. "And so is Ace," he said happily. Finally, it was over.

That was when he heard Vern huffing and puffing as he ran to Gordie's side. "Gordie!" He heard him shout. He stopped when he had reached Gordie and tried to catch his breath as he put his hands on his knees and breathed. He had just ran all the way from the top floor.

"What's going on, Vern?" Gordie asked, hoping against hope that everything was okay.

"It's Chris…" Vern told him, and Gordie's heart sunk. "He's gone."

* * *

Gordie raced back upstairs, Vern and Officer Perkins both rushing after him. It was true. Chris was gone. He searched every room, under every bed, in every closet, but Chris was nowhere to be found. Ace Merrill, however, remained hidden cowardly in the darkest corner of the damp, dark room that had slowly become his own, personal prison cell. He was about to swap that one, however, for a _real_ prison cell. One he wouldn't leave for a long time.

"Where the hell did he go?" Gordie asked, though it was directed at nobody in particular.

He heard Ace sit up, groaning in pain as he tried to pick himself up, even though every part of his body hurt. "He said…" Ace began, though his busted lip made him slur his words. "He said he was going to the tree house," Ace explained, "and that there's something for you there."

Gordie's eyes shot to the corner of the room, where the duffel bag filled with money no longer sat. "Dammit, Chris," Gordie cursed. "What are you doing?" He asked aloud as he watched Officer Perkins approach Ace Merrill who sat, looking defeated.

"Ace Merrill?" Officer Perkins asked, staring down curiously at Ace's bloody face.

Ace, however, did not respond. Instead, he spat a mouthful of blood at the cop.

As he watched Officer Perkins slap his handcuffs on Ace Merrill and drag him down the rickety stairs, Gordie didn't feel any less worried about Chris. Even as he watched the cop seat Ace firmly in the back of his squad car and slam the door behind him, Gordie was still trembling. This wasn't over yet, he knew. It wouldn't be over until he got Chris back.

* * *

Gordie raced down Vern's street as fast as his skinny leg would carry him, the sounds of his shoes hitting the wet concrete below echoing through the night. He could hear multiple steps behind him. They must have belonged to Vern, Teddy and maybe even Lindsay too, though he didn't turn back to see. Right now, all Gordie cared about was finding Chris. The moment he'd heard Vern tell him that Chris was gone, Gordie feared the worst. But Ace was still alive, and the gun was still hidden away in the back of Gordie's pants. So what was Chris doing?

It had stopped raining by the time Gordie made it to the tree house, where he had been hoping Chris would be waiting for him. But Chris was nowhere to be found. Gordie climbed the planks of wood up the tree to the house that had been so carefully constructed many years ago, and the boys had taken to calling their home away from home. But the house was empty. It hadn't changed since the last time the boys had been there, and that had been a long time ago now. Gordie did notice, however, a lonely piece of paper sat on one of the tables. Between the empty beer cans, Playboy magazines (which _had_ to belong to Teddy) and ashtrays, it looked pretty out of place, and had to have been left there recently. Perhaps even that very same night. Gordie rushed to read the note, knowing it had to have been from Chris. His eyes scanned the words carefully written in black ink on the delicate paper. Every word made Gordie's heart beat faster. By the end of the letter, Gordie was breathless.

_Gordie,_

_I guess you already know I took the money. I'm going to the train station, and taking the first train out of this damned town. I'm getting out of here, just look you told me I could those couple of years ago. I've been thinking about what you sad that day outside the tree house, when we got back from our trip on the railroad. I realised, the only way I'm ever getting out of this town is if I actually try. I have to do this, Gordie. I hope you know that the last thing I wanted to do was leave you, but I had no choice. I know you need time, so I'm giving it to you. Maybe, one day, you'll be ready to leave this place too, and we can be together again. But, until then, keep writing your stories, keep helping people, just keep being you. You're my hero, Gordie, and I love you._

_Chris x_

"Gordie?" He heard a girl's voice ask. It must have been Lindsay, but Gordie still had his head in his hands as he continued to cry. Chris' letter had reduced him to tears. "Are you okay?"

Suddenly, Gordie wiped his eyes dry and marched past Vern, Teddy and Lindsay, who had all climbed inside the tree house to join him. He was about to climb back down the wooden planks when Teddy shouted after him. "Where are you going now!?" Teddy shouted.

Gordie looked at Teddy, his eyes red and tired. "To the train station," he explained. "If Chris thinks he's getting on that train, he's got another thing coming."

**THE END...?**

**Okay, so I'm almost definitely NOT gonna leave you guys with that! I do have an idea for an EPILOGUE to this story, but before I publish it, it would be great to hear some of you guys feedback. Leave some REVIEWS for this chapter, or the whole story in general. it would be great to hear what kind of stuff you'd like to see in an EPILOGUE, and if you've enjoyed the story so far!**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed Stand By Me: Come Go With Me. Thanks all of you for your support, for reading every week and leaving your thoughts without fail. I'm really grateful for that, and I'll (hopefully) see you guys again for the Epilogue.**

**Take Care,**

**George**


	17. EPILOGUE

Stand By Me: Come Go With Me

Epilogue

**Hey, guys! Sorry about the delay in getting the Epilogue out. I really wanted to make this final chapter the best that it could be, and I think that (hopefully!) I finally did it. So, without further ado, here it is! The final chapter and the Epilogue to Stand By Me: Come Go With Me!**

It was almost sunrise. Chris Chambers was standing at the edge of platform nine, the black duffel bag filled with money in one hand, the other buried deep in his jean pocket. It was almost seven o'clock, meaning the train that would take Chris far away from this place was only minutes away, giving him some time to think about what had led him here.

He remembered that day on the railroad so clearly it could have been just yesterday. Whereas, in reality, it had almost been three months ago. That night, in the middle of the forest, Chris had told Gordie the truth about everything. He told that sweet, kind boy how he truly felt. And, lucky for Chris, it turned out that Gordie Lachance felt the same way. When that happened, Chris was sure that things could only get better.

They hadn't.

It had been one heck of a rollercoaster ride since then. People had died. Chris' own brother. His family had been torn apart. All because Chris couldn't let Gordie go. He loved Gordie, but he knew, as strong they had, the world would never accept them. But Chris was used to not being accepted. His whole life he had been told that he was no good. Maybe that was true.

It was almost as if Chris Chambers was addicted to trouble. Wherever he went, whatever he did, people got hurt. Even something as seemingly harmless as loving Gordie has resulted in nothing but chaos. But now, Chris knew he had to let go. Unfortunately, Chris' brother had needed to die for that lesson to be learned. Ace had almost died too, and by Chris' own hands. But he had stopped that from happening. He refused to let himself turn into a monster like the one that had killed his brother. And so, he ran away. He ran away from the mess his life had become. All of it, falling apart like this, was on him. The only way he could fix it, was by leaving Castle Rock behind, and never going back.

Last night, Gordie had told Chris that he loved him more than anything. Chris loved him too, more than the Lachance kid could even imagine. But, he would have to love him from far away. Because this world, and its ignorant peoples, just weren't ready for them yet.

If Gordie truly loved Chris, like he knew he did, then he would understand.

Puffing steam, Chris' train arrived. The sudden hoot of its horn almost gave Chris a heart attack right there and then on the platform.

Chris looked around him. The platform was completely empty, as expected at such an early hour. Chris said goodbye to his parents, his friends, the entire town of Castel Rock and of course Gordie all in one silent prayer, before turning his back on it once and for all.

He stepped onto the train.

* * *

"Stop here!" Gordie ordered the bus driver urgently, his manners having gone out the window. He grasped onto the railing to keep his balance until the bus came to screeching and sudden halt, causing Gordie to almost be thrown off his feet.

As soon as those doors swung open, Gordie was off the bus in a flash, leaving Lindsay to pay for their journey with the same change she'd been carefully. "Damn," she cursed as she handed each cent to the bus driver individually. "I was gonna buy ice cream," she complained, even though Gordie had already raced too far ahead to hear her.

"Don't worry," Teddy reassure her, having stuck by her side. The two hadn't been seen apart from each other in less than five days if Vern's didn't fail him. "I promise, if I win the lottery, I buy you a whole _house_ made out of ice cream," he promised, as though he was five years-old and still believed in such ridiculous things. Nevertheless, it made Lindsay feel better.

"You're the best boyfriend in the world," Lindsay replied and kissed Teddy passionately on the lips. When they finally pulled themselves off each other, they raced after Gordie, who was already at the train station by now.

Huffing and puffing from the back, Vern also made chase. The thoughts of a whole house made entirely out of ice cream pushing him onwards.

* * *

Chris had chickened out.

He just couldn't do it. Something inside of him had forced Chris onto that train. But something else, something that must've loved Gordie more than Chris ever knew, made him jump straight off that train. So, here he was, waiting for the next one. The first train had been headed for Arkansas. God only knew where the next would take Chris. That was if, and only if, Chris was brave enough to stay on it.

He stood on the platform waiting, shaking in the morning chill. A mist had settled upon that lonely platform, and Chris had been completely engulfed by it. He could only tell that the next train was on its way by the sound of its engine working and its whistle tooting joyfully.

_You can do it_, Chris told himself. _Don't chicken out_, he urged the part of himself that wanted nothing more than to run all the way home. He wished he could just run home and give his parents the biggest hug he'd ever given anyone. He even wished he could run to Teddy and Vern's houses and give them hugs too. But most of all, Chris wished he could run back to Gordie, and taste his sweet lips one more time, even if it was for the last time. But he knew he couldn't. He heard the train's engines sigh as it came to halt by his feet at long last.

Chris took a deep breath. This was it. If he was going to step on that train, there was no going back, not this time. He was shaking, but the chill in the air wasn't to blame. Chris was scared.

Pushing all that fear to the back of his head, Chris took his first step towards new life away from Castle Rock. One foot off the ground, Chris gulped. He was doing it. At least, he _was_.

Some force from out of the mist had knocked Chris off his feet and sent him plummeting to the dry stone platform below. "Ow!" He cried in pain when his head hit the cobbles.

He could feel hands all over him. Was he being mugged? If so, this mugger had no idea what he had stumbled upon. There were thousands of dollars just waiting in that duffel bag.

Perhaps this was a sign? Perhaps Chris wasn't _supposed_ to get on that train? Maybe that's why something had made him step off that first train? Maybe that why now, of all times, he was suddenly being attacked? Because _somebody_ didn't want him to get on that train.

The mist cleared, and Chris saw exactly who that somebody was.

"Gordie?" Chris asked confusedly, able to make out Gordie's brown eyes and perfect nose through the mist. Chris began to wonder if hitting his head had made him see things, but when he felt that familiar, sweet taste of Gordie's lips on his, Chris knew hasn't dreaming.

* * *

Gordie was lost in the mist. He could barely make out his own hands in front of him. It was as though everything he'd ever known was disappearing right in front of him. One wrong move and he might have stepped off the platform and in the way of an oncoming steam train.

But he knew that, somewhere among this mist, was Chris, and he wouldn't leave until he found him. He could hear Lindsay shouting after him. Teddy too. He could even hear Vern Tessio huffing and puffing far behind him, but the out of shape teenager obviously didn't have the stamina to even shout his name.

Gordie pushed forwards. A loud and high-pitched whistle pierced his eardrums and rattled his skull. Gordie couldn't see the train, but he knew it was there. And he knew Chris was about to step on it. He would not let that happen. He made himself run faster, faster until his legs were so numb that they could collapse under Gordie's weight at any moment.

He could make out Chris' shape now. There was no knowing that it was the Chambers kid, but Gordie was prepared to take that chance. It was now or never, after all.

He threw himself at the shape in the mist before it could even land a foot on the steam train. Gordie toppled over, falling onto Chris, who squealed femininely in pain when his head hit the ground. Even if he had just given Chris a concussion, it was worth it. Gordie's hands were all over Chris' chest. He could feel his heart beat furiously in his chest.

"Gordie?" Chris asked, his voice music to Gordie's ears.

Just a couple of hours had been too long for Gordie to go on without hearing the voice of that Chambers kid he adored so much. And so, Gordie didn't waste any time. He pressed his lips to Chris', and the sweet taste of his kiss made Gordie smile for the first time in too long.

* * *

"Hi," Gordie said when he finally pulled himself off Chris.

The mist began to clear around them, revealing Teddy, Lindsay and Vern, who stood watching the two from afar. Lindsay had that same look on her face that she'd had back at Vern's house. Her eyes welling with tears, she had obviously been moved by their moment.

"Gordie, I…" Chris struggled. He didn't know where to begin. The train was right there, and the bag of money was in his hand. He should have stepped on that train right then and there, but he knew he couldn't. His heart wouldn't let him. _My goddam heart_, Chris thought as he put his hand to his chest. "I'm sorry," he said finally. He put a hand to Gordie's cheek, cupping it tenderly. "I didn't want to leave you like that," he admitted, "but I had no other choice."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gordie asked, desperate to understand what was going through Chris' head. "Why did you run away like that?" His eyes were brimming with tears.

"Because I knew if I told you, you'd come after me," Chris replied with a faint smile. "And here you are," he said and laughed softly as he stroked Gordie's messy head of hair.

"I told you," Gordie said. "I told you I'd always be here, by your side." And it was true.

Chris wanted so much to smile. He wanted just to squeeze Gordie as tight as he could and hold his hand all the way home. But he couldn't. "Gordie…" He sighed. "Listen, I…"

But Gordie cut in. "I know you think this won't ever work," he told Chris. "And you're right," he admitted, as much as he hated to. "It doesn't matter where we go, people are always gonna have a problem with us." Gordie watched Chris heart sink as the boy bowed his head regretfully. It was something they both knew to be true. In this ignorant, close-minded world, Gordie and Chris would never be accepted. They would never get married. They would never have kids. They always knew that, and they always knew that, one day, they would have to face that. But neither of them ever thought it would be this hard. "But, you know what? That's _their_ problem," Gordie said, making Chris smile.

"Gordie, I need to tell you-" Chris tried to say, but Gordie wasn't done just yet.

"I love you," Gordie told Chris suddenly. "I've told you before and I will a hundred times more. I love you more than anything in the world, Chris Chambers, and I don't care what anybody else has to say about that. Because I love you and you love me," he said to Chris, his arms over his shoulders. He gave Chris a moment to let that all sink in.

Chris' heart was thumping in his chest. "Gordie…" What was he doing? He should have dropped that bag of money, wrapped his arms around Gordie and kissed him on the lips right there! But instead, he just stood, trying to spit the right words out. _You have to get on that train_, another voice in Chris' head told him. _There's nothing but trouble for you here!_

But, you see, Chris Chambers was addicted to trouble.

Chris Chambers dropped the duffel bag, wrapped his arms around Gordie and kissed him passionately on the lips. Wrapped around each other, the two boys kissed as the steam train whistled and the mist surrounding them began to clear, revealing a blazing sun and a blue sky, all tying together to make what must have been the greatest morning of either of those boys' lives.

The train left without Chris. It must have been almost a mile away by the time the boys finally stopped kissing each other. They could hear it whistling in the distance as they gazed into each other's eyes romantically, their hearts still pounding in their chests.

"Who knew you were such a romantic, Gordie?" Chris joked with a smile and a laugh before kissing Gordie on the cheek. Then, he bowed and shook his head, realizing how stupid he had been. "I'm sorry, Gordie," he apologised. "I just wanted you to have a good life," he told him.

"And you think that's possible without you by my side?" Gordie asked, grinning cheekily.

Their moment of romance was cut off by coughing from nearby. "Ahem," Teddy rudely repeated. "Don't get me wrong, this is cute and all," he said sarcastically, earning a scowl from Lindsay, "but how are we supposed to get home, exactly?" He wondered, his eyes following the train that was slowly disappearing beyond the horizon.

Holding Gordie's hand tight so as to never lose him again, Chris leaned over the platform and took a long look down the railroad. "We could walk," he suggested, and Gordie smiled.

"Walk?" Lindsay asked, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely," Chris said before jumping down the platform, shortly followed by Gordie. Together, they two boys took the first steps down the railroad, a nostalgic feeling flowing through them. At the same time, however, it felt like almost yesterday that the boys had taken their first steps down the railroad, at the dawn of a whole other adventure.

* * *

"I mean, where _else_ am I gonna go?" Chris wondered aloud, assuming Gordie was listening. He had been debating with himself whether or not to go back to his parent's house, an apology at the ready, with the hopes of getting a hot meal and a warm bed at night.

"Don't be ridiculous," Gordie told him. He wasn't gonna let him go back there. His parents had made Chris feel like a criminal for when he'd the truth about him and Gordie had finally come out. And Gordie knew how that felt all too well. "You're staying with me," he said.

"I don't know," Chris replied uncertainly. "You're parents _hate_ me, and they hate the fact that we're together even more." It was true, but as Gordie had said, that was their problem.

"Then we buy our own place," Gordie assured him. "We have the money, after all," Gordie reminded Chris, his eyes gazing down at the duffel bag Christ still carried in his hand.

Chris' eyes bounced from Gordie, to the duffel bag, and then back to Gordie. "No," he assured him. "We're not using this money," he told him with deadly seriousness.

"What?" Gordie asked confusedly. "Why not?" His voice was loud and heard by the others.

The whole group came to a halt on the railroad.

"Because," Chris said, though he wasn't quite sure how to continue. "I did a bad thing, Gordie." Chris had a pained expression on his face, as though he'd been through hell to get here. That wasn't far from the truth. "I should never have stolen that money," he admitted. They had _both_ known that what they had done had been wrong, but their greediness hand gotten the better of them both. "Ever since I did, it's like the universe has been trying to show me signs that what I did was wrong. Everything with Ace, my parents… My brother…"

"Chris, I…" Gordie didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment of silence.

"No, Gordie," Chris replied. "You don't have to be sorry," he said. "I do." He bowed his head in regret. "I'm the one who stole this money. I'm the one who got my brother killed. I'm the one who tore my family apart and almost did the same to yours," he told Gordie. "It's been me from the start. That's why I wanted to leave!" He explained. "But now I know, you either run from things, or you face them, Gordie." There was another pause, and Teddy, Vern and Lindsay watched as a single tear ran down Chris' cheek. "Life is all about accepting who you are. I accept who I am," he told Gordie, and everybody else. "I'm the bad guy," he said.

"You know? The rotten milk money thief from down the block that parents wanted their kids to play with?" Chris asked. "That was me," he admitted. "But I'm tired of being the bad guy, Gordie. I'm tired of getting people hurt or making people hate. I wanna be the good guy, for once," he told him. "I wanna do right by the world," Chris Chambers decided. "Starting with this," he said as he held up the duffel bag filled with Ace Merrill's stolen fortune.

"Alright, Chris," Gordie said. He understood, and so, he approached Chris, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Go ahead," he urged him with a smile of support. "We don't need it anyway."

"'Cause I've got you, and you've got me, right?"

"Right."

Chris tossed the duffel bag stuffed with countless amounts of dollar bills into the nearest bush, where it disappeared behind the wild plants and trees farther than Chris could see.

And so, Chris and Gordie walked, their arms over each other's shoulder, along the railroad, without so much as looking back, their future together looking as bright as the morning's sun.

* * *

"This _was_ the spot, right?" Teddy asked, up to his shoulder in nettles and thorns as he dug through the bushes, searching for the duffel bag that had been thrown aside somewhere around here just this morning. "Or am I getting cut and stung for nothing, here?"

"Oh, don't be such a baby!" Lindsay told her boyfriend, who squealed like a little girl every time he felt a slight prick. "This _must_ be the place, I recognise that tree stump over there!"

Teddy looked over at the tree Lindsay was pointing at as he continued to dig through the bushes, his arm stinging and sending bolts of pains shooting up to his shoulder. "That tree, over there?" He asked, adjusting his glasses with his free hand (the one that didn't feel like it was on fire). "We passed three tree stumps _just_ like that one!" He shouted back angrily.

"Nu-uh!" Lindsay denied in a childish fashion. "It's _this_ one, I'm sure of it!"

"Oh really?" Teddy asked sarcastically. "The same way you were _sure_ the train station was a _left_ turn from the library and not a right? Well look how that turned out!" He shouted, agitated. "It took us almost two whole hours to figure out we were going in circles!"

"Hey, don't take that tone with me!" Lindsay snapped back at Teddy. "You're the one who, for the past two months, has been bragging about how he knows the railroad like the back of his hand!" She shouted furiously. "I don't know how you can even know the back of your hand so well when you spend most of your time with both your hands down your pa-"

"Wait!" Teddy urged suddenly. "I'VE GOT IT!" He cried madly. He could feel the bag's fabric in his grip. Now, all he had to do was tug. "Here, help me pull this thing out!" He asked.

"I hope that's not something I'm going to hear a lot if we _do_ stay together," Lindsay responded with a smirk. She grabbed Teddy by the waist, and tugged as hard as she could.

When the bag broke free from being trapped by the branches, Teddy and Lindsay fell together, landing on top of each other in a pile of leaves. After they'd finally caught their breath, they stared at each other romantically.

"That was the first fight we've ever had," Lindsay realised, and it sure wouldn't be their last.

Still catching his breath, Teddy could barely speak. Instead, Teddy pulled Lindsay close to him and kissed her, tasting her sweet cherry lips on his once again.

Beside him, Teddy turned to see the duffel bag of money that had spilled open, revealing the countless pile of dollar bills inside that now flowed out like an endless wave of money.

"Oh. My. God," Lindsay whispered as she gazed at the bag with disbelief. She shot up to get on her feet and feel the dollar bills with her own hands, just in case she was dreaming.

She wasn't.

Teddy followed her. He quickly forced the dollar bills back inside the bag. Just the sight of those seemingly endless piles of green made his heart race and his mouth drool.

"This is incredible," Teddy exclaimed, his eyes wide with excitement. "It's like winning the lottery!" He cheered excitedly as he slung the duffel bag filled with money over one shoulder.

"Speaking of which," Lindsay said with a mischievous grin, "I believe I'm owed one ice cream house," she reminded Teddy, who laughed, unaware just how serious she was.

That was when Teddy became aware of the only con to having a girlfriend such as Lindsay. As long as he had one, he would have to share everything. That was one of the only moments Teddy Duchamp ever envied Gordie and Chris, who had nothing else to share because, as corny and clichéd as it might sound, all they'd ever needed was each other.

Someone to stand by.

* * *

**Well, that's it. I really hope you guys all enjoyed this final chapter. I tried as best I could with this, and I hope that shows. Come Go With Me is the first piece of fan-fiction I've written and completed for , and it's without a doubt been the most well received story that I've ever done. For that, I can't thank you guys enough. I can only hope you guys come back and enjoy this story again, or at least tell others to come and check it out. I hope you guys had as great a time reading this as I did writing it. I'd love to hear some final REVIEWS from you guys either for this Epilogue or the entire story!**

**One again, thanks you guys so much for your support. It's been a helluva ride!**

**I'll see ya!**

**(not if I see you first)**

**-George**


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